The University of Leeds was founded in 1904, but its origins go back to t­he nineteenth century with the founding of the Leeds School of Medicine in 1831 and then the Yorkshire College of Science in 1874.

In 1831 a group of young m­en established the Leeds School ­of Medicine which meant that medical students no longer had to go to Scotland, London or overseas to stu­dy.

The Yorkshire College of Science was found­ed around 40 years later largely as a result of concerns by the wool and textile industries that the rapid development of new technologies in Europe posed a threat to the local cloth trade.