The Glasgow Veterinary College , Glasgow, Scotland, was formally established in 1863 by Royal Warrant, although its origins date back to 1859 when James McCall, FRCVS, an Ayrshire graduate of the Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh, Scotland, started a practice in Hope Street, Glasgow, acting as veterinary surgeon to the largest railway contractors. He began giving classes for Edinburgh students who lived in Glasgow. Formal classes began in 1862 with 10 students. In 1909 the College was incorporated as Glasgow Veterinary College. In October 1945 it was handed over to the University of Glasgow , following the University's willingness to undertake responsibility for veterinary education under the recommendations of the Loveday Committee. The College then became the University's Veterinary School within the Medical Faculty, but in 1968 a separate Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was created.
The first classes for Edinburgh students were given in Sauchiehall Lane, Glasgow. In 1863 McCall moved to larger premises at 397 Parliamentary Road, Glasgow. In 1873 a new building, which previously had been a water-pumping station, was acquired at 83 Buccleuch Street, Glasgow. After refurbishment the new college was opened on 28 October 1874 . Following the College's incorporation in 1909 , it purchased its premises in Buccleuch Street from James McCall. After the hand-over of the College to the University of Glasgow, the Buccleuch Street site continued to be used until 1969 . A new veterinary hospital for clinical and research facilities had been built in 1950 on the Garscube Estate, Glasgow, a veterinary field station had been established on the Cochno Estate, Glasgow in 1954 , and new teaching buildings for the pre- and para-clinical departments were built at Garscube in the 1960s .
James McCall applied for a Royal Warrant to prepare students for the examinations of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and this was granted on 2 June 1863 . The first 2 vets received their qualifications in April 1865 from the Highland and Agricultural Society, which examined Scottish students until 1881 . Students of the College also attended classes in Anderson's College of Medicine (?) in materia medica and chemistry. Following the College's incorporation in 1909 , its administration was put into the hands of a board of governors. In the same year it was recognised by the Scottish Education Department as a Central Institution and received limited funds from that source. The College was without a Government grant from 1925-1945 , during which time it was financed by student fees, grants from local authorities and private individuals. The grant was reinstated following the formal hand over of the College to the University of Glasgow in October 1945
Michael Moss, 'The origins of the Glasgow Vet School', The Newsletter of the University of Glasgow Veterinary Faculty Issue 5 ( April 1997 )
From the guide to the Records of Glasgow Veterinary College, Glasgow, Scotland, 1863-1994, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
