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Cambridge University Act 1856

1856 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Act of Parliament 19 & 20 Vic c. 88

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ25054078 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Cambridge University Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 88) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which regulates corporate governance at the University of Cambridge. It requires that most members of full-time academic staff have voting rights over the Council of the Senate, which is ultimately the leading body in the university's administration. The act resulted in new subjects being introduced.

Provisions

Sections 1 and 2 stipulated that commissioners must be appointed and for how long. This resulted in 8 commissioners being appointed.

Section 5, states that the Council of the Senate is the top management body.

Section 12, concerns "Votes of electors." It states:

The act also removed some religious requirements and restrictions.

See also

UK labour law

UK company law

Universities in the UK

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

The Statutes: Second Revised Edition.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cambridge University Act 1856” as 1856 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Act of Parliament 19 & 20 Vic c. 88. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1856—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1856. The account is most persuasive where Cambridge, University and United can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as 1856 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Act of Parliament 19 & 20 Vic c. 88. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25054078. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1856.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cambridge University Act 1856”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cambridge University Act 1856 primary sources, Cambridge University Act 1856 archive and Cambridge research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cambridge University Act 1856”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Cambridge University Act 1856” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.