The agreement made between the Society of Merchant Venturers and the University of Bristol had twenty-one clauses, including that the Society of Merchant Venturers would 'provide and maintain the Technical College of the Faculty of Engineering'.¹ The Society of Merchant Venturers agreed to 'not only provide houseroom and equipment for the Faculty of Engineering...' but also to 'pay all outgoings, partly out of fees, partly out of grants of public money, and partly out of their own private resources'.² Students that were already studying at the Merchant Venturer's Technical College in 1909 were able to complete their studies either in the Faculty of Sciences, or Faculty of Engineering.³ The buildings on Unity Street were disposed to the faculty 'together with fully equipped laboratories, and all plant, equipment and appliances necessary for the educational requirements of that Faculty'.⁴ If the society, for whatever reason in the future should 'surrender and give up the Faculty of Engineering,' then the society would resume 'exclusive possession of the said buildings in Unity Street'.⁵

It was agreed that if any grant was paid directly to the University 'in respect of the University Classes of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College,' then the University had to 'hand over to the Merchant Venturers a sum equal to that which they should have received in any given year'.⁶ This sum would be paid annually to the Treasurer of the Society. However, it was specified that this would only be the case if the funds contributed to the University had 'connection with or for the purposes of the Faculty of Engineering or the Technical College'.⁷

There were tensions between University College Bristol and the Society of Merchant Venturers, the most significant of which stemmed from this clause concerning grants.⁸ This resulted in two years of disagreements, occurring within the context of the faculty's fast growth that the Society of Merchant Venturers simply had not predicted. Indeed, the Society of Merchant Venturers wrote in 1912, 'though they were prepared for some growth of expenditure upon it [...] they were far from expecting that the growth would be so vigorous as it actually has been'.⁹ As such, when in 1912 the Board of Education issued a grant of £7000 to University College Bristol, the Society of Merchant Venturers argued that they should receive a proportion of this grant, due to their maintenance of the faculty.¹⁰ However, the University argued that they did not need to provide Society of Merchant Venturers with a proportion of the funds, due to the separation between the Technical College and the University of Bristol. The Society of Merchant Venturers eventually sought legal advice, as both parties were eager to keep things 'friendly'.¹¹ After another year of discussions and negotiations, it was decided that solicitors Messrs. Benson Carpenter Cross & Co. would write to the Board of Education. In November 1913, H. Frank Heath replied, and stated that the Exchequer Grant's purpose was to aid 'University Colleges'. Heath wrote:

'As Bristol Merchant Venturers College is not one of the colleges to which such grants are made, no part of the Exchequer Grant allocated to Bristol University on the recommendation of the Board's Advisory Committee was made in support of work conduced at the Merchants Venturers College, which is financially independent of the University.'¹²

This was not well received by the Vice Chancellor nor the Society of Merchant Venturers. They were 'disturbed by the statement' because it implied that the Advisory Committee might have 'been forbidden by the Board to take into consideration the students in the Engineering Faculty,' since this was maintained by Society of Merchant Venturers.¹³ They thought that this might have been the justification for Bristol's significantly smaller grant than those awarded to universities including Newcastle, where engineering students had been taken into consideration.¹⁴ The solicitors also deemed Heath's reply as useless, and that 'no answers had been given'.¹⁵ Instead, in January 1914, the solicitors suggested asking the Chancellor to write to the Board of Education to clarify their answers.¹⁶ On 4 April 1914, George Henry Pope (Society of Merchant Venturers Treasurer) and Julius Wertheimer (Dean of the Faculty) had an interview at the Board of Education with Heath. Heath confirmed that because the Faculty of Engineering was conducted in an institution not financed by the University, then the 'Exchequer Grant' had not been afforded with the faculty in mind. Thus, the Society of Merchant Venturers accepted that they had no claim to the Exchequer Grant. The Society of Merchant Venturers apologised for the 'trouble occasioned to the University in connection with the matter'.¹⁷ However, the Society of Merchant Venturers went on to write to the Board of Education again, requesting that they consider including the Faculty of Engineering students in future allocations of Exchequer Grants.¹⁸

1. ^ Bristol Archives, BK/647 p.1
2. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1
3. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/2 J Wertheimer to C. Lloyd Morgan, 5 July 1909
4. ^ Bristol Archives, BK/647 p.4
5. ^ Bristol Archives, BK/647 p.6
6. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1
7. ^ Bristol Archives, BK/647 p.3
8. ^ Other tensions for example, included the transfer of library books from the Technical College to the faculty. Wertheimer and the University's Vice Chancellor had a disagreement over who had drawn up a list of books ready for transfer (See University of Bristol Special Collections, DM883)
9. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/2 To the Registrar, University of Bristol, May 1912
10. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 J Wertheimer to G.H. Pope, 19 July 1912
11. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 George H. Pope to The Registrar University of Bristol, 13 December 1912
12. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 H. Frank Heath to Benson Carpenter Cross & Co. 8 November 1913
13. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 J Wertheimer to the Registrar, 12 November 1813
14. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 J Wertheimer to the Registrar, 12 November 1813
15. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 Messrs Benson Carpenter & Co. to University of Bristol & Society of Merchant Venturers 28 November 1913
16. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 Messrs Benson Carpenter & Co. to University of Bristol & Society of Merchant Venturers 19 January 1914
17. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 6 April 1914
18. ^ Bristol Archives, SMV/5/6/3/1 Letter to the Board of Education