Avisitor, inEnglish and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomousecclesiastical oreleemosynary institution, often acharitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution. Those with such visitors are mainlychapters, chapels, schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals.
The office of visitor arose in church government and the visitor of an ecclesiastical corporations is normally the bishop of that diocese. Outside of the church, visitors are sometimes appointed for eleemosynary foundations (those established for the perpetual distribution of the alms or bounty of the founder), such as hospitals or colleges.[1][2] Blackstone, in hisCommentaries on the Laws of England (1765), saw the crown as having visitatorial jurisdiction over all civil corporations (i.e., non-eleemosynary lay corporations), with this being exercised through the courts.[3]
Many visitors hold their roleex officio, by serving as theBritish sovereign, theArchbishop of Canterbury, theLord Chancellor, theLord President of the Council, theLord Chief Justice, or thebishop of a particulardiocese. Others can be appointed in various ways, depending on the constitution of the organization in question. Bishops are usually the visitors to their own cathedrals.
All eleemosynary corporation have a visitor as a necessity incident of their foundation;[4] where no visitor is named, the sovereign is the visitor.[5] Prior to theConstitutional Reform Act 2005, the sovereign's visitatorial jurisdiction was delegated to theLord Chancellor; powers concerning the visitorial function of the crown are now part of the ministerialprerogative powers of the UK government.[5][6]
Universities and colleges in England and Wales established byroyal charter (or aprivate act of Parliament) may have a visitor, although thenewer universities do not have visitors.[7] The colleges ofOxford andCambridge universities are, with the exception of some modern foundations, eleemosynary corporations and thus have visitors, but the universities themselves are civil corporations and thus do not have visitors.[8][9]
The right of the visitor, and not the courts, to adjudge on alleged deviations from the statutes of academic colleges was affirmed in the case ofPhilips v. Bury, 1694, in which theHouse of Lords overruled a judgment of theCourt of King's Bench.[10][11]
The first university (as opposed to college) in England and Wales to be constituted as an eleemosynary foundation and thus to have a visitor wasDurham University, under the Durham University Act 1832.[12] Following this, other universities were established with visitors by royal charter or act of parliament until 1992.[7]
TheEducation Reform Act 1988 transferred jurisdiction for most employment disputes in universities toemployment tribunals, and theHigher Education Act 2004 transferred the jurisdiction of visitors over the grievances of students in English and Welsh universities to theOffice of the Independent Adjudicator.[7]
The residual powers remaining to the visitor in higher education include the interpretation and enforcement of the charter and statutes, issues over membership of committees and the appointment or dismissal of officers of the institution, compliance with the charitable objectives defined by the founder, and disputes between academics and the institution that are not employment disputes or that have been otherwise transferred to the courts or tribunals. Decisions of the visitor are subject tojudicial review for failure to apply the rules of natural justice or for lack of jurisdiction, but not for errors in fact or law.[13]
There were 51 higher education providers in England with visitors in 2026.[14]
Under theMedical Act 1983, theGeneral Medical Council may appoint visitors to medical schools to report on "the sufficiency of the instruction given in the places which they visit and as to any other matters relating to the instruction which may be specified".[15]
The position has also existed in universities in other countries which have followed the English and Welsh model (there being no such office in Scotland), although in many countries the visitor's role in complaints has been transferred to other bodies.
InIreland, theUniversities Act 1997 redefines the appointment, function and responsibility of a visitor. The act defines that where a university does not have a visitor, a visitor may be appointed by thegovernment and must be either a current or retired judge of theHigh Court or a retired judge of theSupreme Court. It also defines that the visitor's responsibility is to enquire into situations where "there are reasonable grounds for contending that the functions of a university are being performed in a manner which prima facie constitutes a breach of the laws, statutes or ordinances applicable to the university" at the request of theMinister for Education.[16]
InFiji, theCourt of Appeal inMuma v USP[17] declared that in default of appointment, the country'spresident was the visitor of a university established bythe Queen, since Fiji had subsequently become a republic.[18]
TheGovernor of Victoria is the visitor toDeakin,Federation,La Trobe,Melbourne,Monash,RMIT, andVictoria Universities.,[19] but has only ceremonial duties.
TheGovernor of New South Wales is the visitor toMacquarie University,Sydney Grammar School, and theUniversity of Sydney pursuant to statute.[20][21][22][23] The governor is also the visitor of theUniversity of Wollongong by the University of Wollongong Act 1989.[24] Only ceremonial duties can be exercised by the Governor of NSW in his or her role as visitor; this is mandated under the same act.
TheGovernor of Queensland is the official visitor to theUniversity of Queensland.[25]
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as a member of theCanadian royal family, served as the visitor toUpper Canada College from 1955 to his death in 2021. Priorly,Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, acted as the school's visitor between 1919 and 1936.[26]
Thegovernor general of Canada, as the King's representative, serves as the visitor toMcGill University.[27] Similarly, thelieutenant governor of Ontario serves as the visitor to theUniversity of Western Ontario inLondon, Ontario,[28] and thelieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador serves as the visitor toMemorial University of Newfoundland.[29]
TheAnglicanBishop of Montreal serves as the visitor toBishop's University inLennoxville, Quebec, and theAnglicanBishop of Huron serves as the visitor toRenison University College inWaterloo, Ontario.[30]
In India, thePresident of India is the visitor to 126 central government institutes,[31] such as theIndian Institutes of Technology.[32]
In the United States, the office of visitor, from its early use at some colleges and other institutions, evolved specifically into that of atrustee. Certain colleges and universities, particularly of an earlier, often colonial founding, are governed byboards of visitors, often chaired by arector (rather thanregents or trustees, etc.). Examples include theCollege of William and Mary and theUniversity of Virginia.
In Nigeria, the visitor in publicly funded tertiary institution is the most senior member of government. This is usually the president in federally-funded universities or the governor for state-funded universities.[33][34]
In theJill Paton Walsh continuation of theLord Peter Wimsey series of detective novels,The Late Scholar, Lord Peter (now the Duke of Denver) is the visitor of the fictional St Severin's College in Oxford, which is central to the plot.
The establishment of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge may be contrasted with the foundation of their colleges. All the colleges are founded by charter. With the exception of the more modern foundations they are eleemosynary corporations, that is to say they were established and endowed for the perpetual distribution of the bounty of the founder and were frequently charged with the duty of saying masses or prayers for the founder and his or her kin.