Birmingham Polytechnic Institution was a polytechnic formed in 1843 in Birmingham, England. It was supported by leading Liberals in the city such as George Dawson. The Polytechnic mainly taught languages, chemistry and mathematics and had a library of 4,000 volumes. Charles Dickens was among the visiting academics who gave speeches at the Polytechnic, he gave a speech for the Polytechnic in the Birmingham Town Hall in May 1846. Other guest lecturers included Sir Robert Peel, who gave a lecture on Switzerland.