Degree Subject at Armstrong College, Newcastle around 1910

[Tickettyboo]

not sure if it confirms or denies anything but I googled for the 'Dunelm' that is in brackets after B.Sc. ( as I didn't think it referred to household goods <g>)and a wikipedia page says

Durham graduates have long used the Latin post-nominal letters Dunelm after their degree, from Dunelmensis (of, belonging to, or from Durham)

Boo

[Shiny1]

Thank you both very much.

It definitely sounds like I need to contact the university and see if I can find exactly what he studied and how long for.

From what I've posted and the replies I'm assuming he has passed year one as a minimum, does that mean he has a degree of some type or would he have to have done all 3 years for that?

I'd still like to know the subject as well.

Michael

[mazi]

Pure speculation but then Armstrong college seemed to offer degree courses in medicine, the arts, pure science and applied science, that he went into the royal flying corps straight away might suggest he was a practical person likely to study applied science.

I still think he would need three years to get a degree, many students joined up on the firm understanding that their university place was guaranteed after the war ended.

Only the records if they exist will say for certain what course he was taking, but many universities, even in my day, lumped all science and engineering students together for the first year, specialisation came later..  (or not at all in my case as I failed the first hurdle  )

Mke

[Gadget]

He would have had to do a 3 year course (and pass relevant examinations) to be awarded a degree. Although, if he's done 2 years at another university/college there might be dispensation.  I agree with others that he completed one year, otherwise it would be nomally written as  B.Sc (Hons.1st class).

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/about/history/

The University can trace its origins to:

    the School of Medicine and Surgery, established in 1834
    Armstrong College, founded in 1871 for the teaching of physical sciences

These two colleges formed one division of the federal University of Durham. The Durham Colleges formed the other division.

The Newcastle Colleges merged to form King's College in 1937. In 1963, when the federal University was dissolved, King's College became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The University changed its trading name to Newcastle University in 2006.

Gadget - postgrad at Durham and OH was member of academic staff at Newcastle

[Shiny1]

Thanks very much Mike and Gadget,

So he mustn't have had a degree then. I know he was training to be a teacher although I have no idea about the subject.

He joined the Northumberland Fusiliers as a private soldier in July 1915 and after being wounded he applied for a commission in the Royal Flying Corps which was accepted in September 1917.

He couldn't have carried on with his degree after the war as he died whilst learning to fly in April 1918.

I'm going to see what I can find online now about contacting the college and see what they hold, if anything.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

Michael

[Shiny1]

Hi All,

I've had a very prompt reply from the University's at war website saying:

You need to contact our colleagues at Newcastle University https://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections//about/contact/ . Armstrong College went on to become part of this university’s King’s College which became the independent University of Newcastle in 1963 and our colleagues there hold records of its former constituent colleges and their members.

I have sent an email but thought this may help anyone researching students in the future.

Michael

[Shiny1]

I need to clarify the above post as I've now found out it was a bit mixed up.

When I emailed the universities at war website it was sent to both Newcastle and Durham universities. I now know the reply above was sent by Durham university explaining I need to contact Newcastle in this case.

I was already in contact with a very helpful lady at Newcastle who had replied at the same time. I then used the link on Durham's reply to contact Newcastle for a second time without realising it was the same people who were already helping me.

Now that's as clear as mud I would like to say the lady at Newcastle University has been looking for me but it looks like the trail may well have gone cold.

The information on the Universities at War website is pretty much what they hold. They do have a calendar which lists staff and students at the University each year and his name is on it for 1914/15.

The man he gave as a reference, Professor Mark R. Wright, appears in the staff list for the academic year 1914/1915 under Education which I'm told is a subject in it's own right although we don't know exactly what the course covered. I'm guessing as I know he was training to be a teacher it may be a "how to teach / train the trainer" type course (that's assuming this man was his tutor rather than head of year or something similar).

They also hold the Durham University Gazette which has some brief mention of him and I can make an appointment to go and have a look at that.

So in a nutshell they were very helpful and do hold information there which the public can access. If you have a relative to research who may have studied at Durham or Newcastle they are well worth dropping an email to, however in my case it doesn't sound like I will get much further with his university life unless I can find another source.

Hope that helps everyone.

Michael