Mason Science College was the first institution in Birmingham to provide degree-level teaching. It opened to students in October 1880 but it had been founded in 1870 by the industrialist Sir Josiah Mason. The foundation stone for the college building was laid on 23 February 1875, Mason's birthday. Mason's intention in founding the college was to provide an institution dedicated to scientific instruction, primarily for the benefit of citizens of Birmingham, and of his home town, Kidderminster. Mason died on 16 June 1881. In 1898 the College's management produced recommendations to transform the college into a university. The university charter received royal assent in on 25 May 1900, and the property of Mason University College was vested in it from the start of the autumn term 1900. Mason College and its teaching staff were absorbed in the new institution, the University of Birmingham.