The University of Bristol is a university in Bristol, England. One of the so-called red brick universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876. Bristol ranks as one of the top 10 universities in the United Kingdom according to most published league tables and receives more applications per place than any other British University. The University has an annual turnover of ??260m and is the largest independent employer in Bristol. The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers??? Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) which became the Engineering faculty of Bristol University. The University was also preceded by Bristol Medical School (1833) and University College, Bristol, founded in 1876, where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students. The University was able to apply for a Royal Charter due to the financial support of the Wills and Fry families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate, respectively. Although the Wills Family made huge sums of money from the slave-produced plantations, they later became abolitionists who gave their money to the city of Bristol. The Royal Charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the University in October 1909. Henry Overton Wills III became its first chancellor. The University College was the first such institution in the country to admit women on the same basis as men. However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906. The University is a member of the Russell Group, European-wide Coimbra Group and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof Eric Thomas is the current Chair. The University of Bristol has approximately 23,000 students.