Universities Tests Act 1871
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2010) |
| Act of Parliament | |
 34 & 35 Vict. c. 26 | |
Status: Amended | |
|---|---|
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Universities Tests Act 1871 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Universities Tests Act 1871
The Act built upon earlier acts that had limited religious tests in the universities concerned. The Oxford University Act 1854 had abolished tests for the degree of BA, but not for higher degrees.[3] The Cambridge University Act 1856 abolished tests for all degrees in Arts, Law, Music and Medicine, but stated that the degree would not enable the holder to become a member of senate or hold "any Office … which has been heretofore always held by a Member of the United Church of England and Ireland" unless they made a declaration that they were "bona fide a Member of the Church of England"[4] (the latter provisions were abolished by the 1871 Act).[5] The Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral (the governing body of Durham University at that time) changed the university's regulations in 1865 to remove religious tests on degrees (except in theology).[6]
Passed during the course of William Ewart Gladstone's first ministry, the act was to obtain support from the non-conformists since these were a major support group for the Liberal Party.[citation needed]
The direct instigation for this legislation was the widely publicised case of
Numa Hartog would have been the first Jew after the passing of this act to be elected a fellow at the University of Cambridge, but he died of smallpox. The first Jew to be elected a fellow was Samuel Alexander at Lincoln College, University of Oxford in 1882.[8]
See also
Notes
- short title was conferred on this Act by section 1 of this act.[1]
References
- ^ "Universities Tests Act 1871 - Section 1: Short Title". legislation.gov.uk.
- UK Government.
- ^ Bernard Lord Manning (1952). The Protestant Dissenting Deputies. Cambridge University Press. p. 373.
- ^ "Cambridge University Act 1856 – Text as originally enacted" (PDF). 29 July 1856. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ Queen's Printer (29 July 1856). "Cambridge University Act 1856". Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ The Durham University Calendar 1868. Durham University. 1868. p. 31.
- ISBN 0-19-927668-4.
- ^ Laird, John. 1938. Memoir. In Philosophical and Literary Pieces by Samuel Alexander. London: Macmillan, p. 12.
External links
 | This legislation in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions, article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This United Kingdom university, college or other education institution article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |