The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies: What’s in a Name?

Abstract

The veterinary school that was established in Edinburgh in 1823, almost two hundred years ago, has had an interesting and rich history. Recent studies have revealed details of some of the personalities who created its academic foundations, and these investigations have also shown that the early beginnings can be traced back to the 1600s. Other studies have given substance to the architectural structures that this school, and its neighbouring veterinary schools, took from inception. The lives and contributions of several of the main characters that played important roles in the development of this school have been sketched out and these recent studies have added to the information that was published earlier. Nevertheless, in this process of exploration, various other gaps in our appreciation of the veterinary school have begun to make themselves more obvious. For example, what the veterinary school was called by people locally, nationally and internationally really mattered to the ones who worked and studied there. This example naturally raised a further series of specific questions; how was the veterinary school referred to in the past; what events caused it to change its name; how did the school come to have the name it now bears?