Remembering George Birkbeck

Today marks the anniversary of the death of College founder, George Birkbeck. Born in Yorkshire in 1766, he died on this day in 1841, aged 75.

It was around the start of the 19th Century that George first had the idea of hosting free, public lectures while an academic at the Andersonian Institution, which later became the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Over 500 people attended his first lecture on the 'mechanical arts'.

George moved to London to work as a doctor, where he maintained an interest in educating the working man. On the 2nd December 1823, around 2000 people flocked to the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand to witness George and his supporters launch London's first ever Mechanics' Institution dedicated to the education of working people.

Some seven years after its initial launch, the Institution began to admit women students, almost 40 years before they were accepted at Cambridge or Oxford. In 1858 the ratification of the University of London's Charter meant that any student could sit degree examinations. This led to the Institution's role as the main provider of university education for people who could not afford to study full-time.

In 1866 The Mechanics' Institution changed its name to the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution, in recognition of George Birkbeck. In 1907 it changed its name once more to Birkbeck College. 

The exact cause of George Birkbeck's death is unclear, but his horse-drawn funeral cortège attracted thousands of mourners. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, and a monument can be found in St Akelda's church in Giggleswick, near his birthplace in Settle.

The founding of the college is marked every year with the Foundation Dinner. This year's guest is David Lammy, MP for Tottenham and Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property.

Click here to read more about the history of Birkbeck.