Among the first students were Delabere Pritchett Blaine and Bracy Clark. In its early years it was mainly concerned with horses, but the range of animals covered gradually increased. The original building was a quadrangle in a neoclassical style, and there was a paddock on the opposite side of Royal College Street, but this was later sold for housing development.
In 1796 John Shipp was the first qualified veterinary surgeon to join the British Army.
=== 19th century ===
The college first acquired royal patronage from King George IV. In 1844 it was awarded a royal charter.
In 1865 RVC Professor James Beart Simonds was appointed as the first Chief Inspector and Veterinary Advisor to the Privy council, with particular regard to cattle plague.
In 1875 college was granted a royal charter as the Royal Veterinary College; it remains the only veterinary college in the UK to have its own royal charter.
In 1879 the Cheap Practice Clinic was established, later known as the Poor People's Out-Patients Clinic. Some veterinary surgeons were concerned that the college was threatening their livelihoods, but the college argued that poor people could not afford veterinary fees, therefore their animals would go untreated if the Clinic were closed.
The college celebrated its centenary in 1891 and in that year the Students' Union was founded. In 1895 the first X-ray machine was acquired.
=== 20th century ===
There was a major renovation in 1907 of the college horse boxes, which had fund-raisers' commemorative shields hung at their doorways.
Women were admitted to the College after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 came into force. The first women were admitted in 1927.
In 1924 the Research Institute in Animal Pathology was built, headed by Professor John McFadyean.
Various extensions were added to the Camden Town site over the years. The buildings had become obsolete and in 1927 were officially declared dangerous structures. A fund-raising scheme for the total rebuilding of the college was launched by the new principal, …
