The Veterinary College of London was founded in 1791 by a group led by Granville Penn, a grandson of William Penn, following the foundation of the first veterinary college in Europe in Lyon, France in 1762. The promoters wished to select a site close to the metropolis, but far enough away to minimise the temptations open to the students. Earl Camden was just then making arrangements to develop some fields he owned to the north of London, and he replied to the College's newspaper advertisement for a suitable site with an offer to sell it some of his land. The site was rural, but urban developments appeared on all sides in the early decades of the 19th century, creating Camden Town.
Veterinary College, London, the original building, 1804 engraving.
Charles Benoit Vial de St Bel of the Lyon establishment was appointed as the first principal of the new college. The first students, just four of them, began their studies in 1792, and the first horse was admitted for treatment in 1793. St Bel died later that year and was succeeded by Edward Coleman, who managed the college for nearly forty six years and established its reputation. Among the first students were Delabere Pritchett Blaine and Bracy Clark. In its early years it was mainly concerned with horses, but the range of animals covered gradually increased. The original building was a quadrangle in a neoclassical style, and there was a paddock on the opposite side of Royal College Street, but this was later sold for housing development.
In 1796 John Shipp was the first qualified veterinary surgeon to join the British Army.
The college first acquired royal patronage from King George IV. In 1844 it was awarded a Royal Charter.
In 1865 RVC Professor James Beart Simonds was appointed as the first Chief Inspector and Veterinary Advisor to the Privy council, with particular regard to cattle plague.
In 1875 college was granted a Royal Charter as the Royal Veterinary College; it remains the only veterinary college in the UK to have its own Royal Charter.
In 1879 the Cheap Practice Clinic was established, later known as the Poor People's Out-Patients Clinic. Some veterinary surgeons were concerned that the college was threatening their livelihoods, but the college argued that poor people could not afford veterinary fees, therefore their animals would go untreated if the Clinic were closed.
The college celebrated its centenary in 1891 and in that year the Students' Union was founded. In 1895 the first X-ray machine was acquired
There was a major renovation in 1907 of the college horse boxes, which had fund-raisers' commemorative shields hung at their doorways.
In 1924 the Research Institute in Animal Pathology was built, headed by Professor John McFadyean.
Various extensions were added to the Camden Town site over the years. The buildings had become obsolete and in 1927 were officially declared dangerous structures. A fund-raising scheme for the total rebuilding of the college was launched by the new Principal, Professor Sir Frederick Hobday.
In 1932 the Beaumont Animals' Hospital opened.
During the Second World War, the RVC evacuated to Streatley, Berkshire, although the Beaumont Animals' Hospital remained open at Camden Town.
In 1949 the RVC became a school of the University of London.
In 1958 the Hawkshead field station, in Hertfordshire, was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In the 1980s the Animal Care Trust was launched with the Queen Mother as patron, and the Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals is opened at Hawkshead by the Queen Mother.
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal and Chancellor of the University of London, opened the surgical wing of the Sefton Equine Referral Hospital.
The bicentenary celebrations were held in 1991. The skeleton of the famous racehorse Eclipse, dissected in 1789 by St. Bel was once more the property of the RVC and was placed on display in the Museum at Hawkshead.
The London Bioscience Innovation Centre was opened in 2001.
The Learning Resource Centre (Eclipse Building) was officially opened at Hawkshead by Her Majesty the Queen in October 2003. The Large Animal Clinical Centre was officially opened by HRH, Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh in October 2003.
In 2005 the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Hawkshead Campus as new Patron of the Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust.
The LIVE Centre at Hawkshead was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal in February 2007.
Stuart Reid was appointed principal of the RVC in late 2010.
