A composite photograph of six of the twelve members of the first University of Otago Council from A History of the University of Otago, 1869-1919

1919

Brasch LG741 D8 TF32

Dunedin: J. Wilkie and Co.

Although the historian Dr Morrell called the first Council of the University ‘a well balanced body’, it was in fact exclusively white, male, and middle-class. Twelve in number, they had experience in the domains of religion, politics, law, medicine, and business. They were Robert Burns; the Rev. Thomas Burns (number 2); E.B. Cargill; C. C. Graham; John Hyde Harris; Dr Edward Hulme (5); W.H. Reynolds; Hon Major J.L. C. Richardson (6); the Rev. R. L. Stanford (4); A C. Strode; the Rev. D. M. Stuart (3); and Hon. Mr Justice Dudley Ward (1). Although they had no experience in running an educational institution, they started well, quickly deciding on subjects of chairs, setting fees and terms, and other such administrational matters.