Dalhousie University - History

History

"founded on the principles of religious tolerance."

Dalhousie was founded as a result of the desires of George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, to establish a non-denominational college in Halifax. The financing of the college had largely come from customs duties collected by John Coape Sherbrooke, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia during the occupation of Castine, Maine during the War of 1812, who invested GBP£7000 as the initial endowment and reserved GBP£3000 for the physical construction of the college. The school was established in 1818, structured after the University of Edinburgh, which was located near Ramsay's home in Scotland. The college was allowed to falter however after Ramsay left Halifax shortly after its establishment to serve as the Governor General of British North America.

In 1821, Dalhousie College was officially incorporated by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly under the Act of Incorporation passed in 1821. The college however did not hold its first class until 1838, with the operation of the college itself being only intermittent and no degrees awarded at the college. In 1841 Dalhousie was conferred university powers by an Act of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

In 1863, the college reopened for its third time and was reorganized by another legislative act, which also added the word university into the school's name, changed to "The Governors of Dalhousie College and University." Dalhousie reopened with six professors and one tutor, and awarded its first degrees in 1866. The student body that year consisted of 28 students working toward degrees, in addition to 28 occasional students. Despite the reorganization, money continued to be a problem for the institution. In 1879, amid talks surrounding the closure of the university due to its dire financial situation, a wealthy New York publisher with Nova Scotia roots, George Munro, who was also the brother-in-law of Dalhousie's Board of Governors member John Forrest, began to donate to the university. Munro is thus credited with rescuing it from the brink of closure, and in honour of his contributions, Dalhousie observes a university holiday called George Munro Day each year on the first Friday of February.

Originally located at the present location of Halifax City Hall, the college moved in 1886 to Carleton campus and spread gradually to occupy the Studley campus. The university continued to grow steadily during the 20th century. In 1889 the Halifax Conservatory became affiliated with Dalhousie, awarding degrees through the university. The conservatory would continue this affiliation until 1962. In 1920 the University of King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia burned down. Through a grant from the Carnegie Foundation however, King's College was able to relocate to Halifax and entered into a partnership with Dalhousie University which continues to this day.

An agreement for Dalhousie to amalgamate with Technical University of Nova Scotia was made on 10 June 1996, with the act of amalgamation occurring 31 March 1997. The act that amalgamated the two schools also formally changed the name of the university from The Governors of Dalhousie College and University to Dalhousie University. Another institution, the Nova Scotia Agricultural College merged with the university on 1 September 2012, becoming the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, at Dalhousie’s Agricultural Campus in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia.