by civic pride to pursue independent university status, to bring higher education, give support to industries and serve as a centre for disease study. Hicks also advocated the independent degree awarding power would attract talented staff. The University College of Sheffield's charter was sealed on 31 May 1905 and became the University of Sheffield. On 12 July 1905, Firth Court on Western Bank was opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. St George's Square remained the centre of departments of Applied Science, and the departments of Arts, Medicine and Science moved to Western Bank. Sheffield is one of the six pre-World War One red brick universities, the civic universities founded in the major industrial cities of England.
=== 20th century ===
In 1905, when the university first opened, there were 363 students and 114 of them were enrolled full-time. Sheffield at the time had 71 members of staff. By then, the first Hall of Residence (Stephenson Hall) and library (Edgar Allen library) had been established. The number of students increased to a short-lived peak of 1,000 in 1919 when returning ex-servicemen were admitted to the university. During the First World War, some of the academic subjects and courses were replaced by teaching of munitions making and medical appliances production. The university has expanded since the 1920s from two ends on Western Bank and on the St George's site. The number of full-time students was stabilized at about 750 between the two world wars. In 1943, the University Grants Committee announced that universities in the UK should look forward to expansion in the years after the Second World War. Sheffield predicted a 50% increase in student population but the university was unprepared for such growth. There was pressure on the university to expand since the student numbers had increased from around 1,000 to 3,000 by 1946. The university announced proposals for development in 1947, which emphasised the need for new departments, medical school, library, administration building, halls …
