The University of Melbourne was established following a proposal by Hugh Childers, the Auditor-General and Finance Minister, in his first Budget Speech on 4November 1852, who set aside a sum of £10,000 for the establishment of a university. The university was established by Act of Incorporation on 22 January 1853, with power to confer degrees in arts, medicine, laws and music. The act provided for an annual endowment of £9,000, while a special grant of £20,000 was made for buildings that year. The foundation stone was laid on 3July 1854, and on the same day the foundation stone for the State Library. Classes commenced in 1855 with three professors and sixteen students; of this body of students only four graduated. The original buildings were officially opened by the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, on 3October 1855.
