It is a shame that an average Marjon student knows very little about the history of their university. I admit that I was not much better, knowing only that it is much older than it looks, was originally two separate schools and it was located in London, before the move to Plymouth. I guess it is a part of our goals, to look and work towards our futures, so there is little time and occasion to look into the past. Since I joined the archive’s volunteers I had plenty of time to amend that neglect on my part.
But instead of concentrating on the history of the institution I wanted to look at the founders of the both schools. I wanted to get to know them better, to find out who they were and what motivations are hidden behind their deeds. I wanted to know how did it happen, that they started to work on those two separate, but parallel projects. I wanted to get to know them and tell you all about the kind of people they were. So I set on a quest that took me much longer than I expected. I had to start at the very beginning, when the railways were born. When the factory chimneys littered the skylines of major cities and the dinosaurs roamed the gas-lit streets…ok, there were no dinosaurs, but you get what I mean. I had to learn a thing or two about the beginnings of the public education, because Marjon’s founders are so tightly connected to it, there is no way of skipping that bit. There is so much to tell, but I promise I’ll be brief and tell you only the most juicy bits.:-)