John Marden
Encyclopedia
Dr. John Marden B.A., LL.D (9 April 1855 – 29 October 1924) was an Australian Headmaster, pioneer of women's education, and Presbyterian elder
.
, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria
, Marden was the fifth child of English
parents, John Marden, a butcher
, and his wife Catherine, née Murphy. He was educated at the The Geelong College
and the University of Melbourne
, where he graduated as a Master of Arts in Mathematics and Physics.
Whilst completing his law degree, Marden married a schoolteacher, Jane Armstrong at Cape Clear
, on 20 December 1883. He also
returned to his old school, The Geelong College, this time as a teacher under notable educator George Morrison
, moving to the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
(M.L.C Melbourne) as a Science
master three years later.
in Sydney. Marden applied for the position and was unanimously selected "because of his high academic standing, his experience and success in teaching and his high Christian character."
He opened the school with 39 students on 30 January 1888, at Fernlea, a fourteen-roomed gentleman's residence in Ashfield
(the current site of the Masonic Hospital), with Miss M. McCormick as lady superintendent
. Together with the Committee set up by the Presbyterian Church in N.S.W for establishing P.L.C, he was responsible for organising the curriculum and hiring the appropriate staff.
In 1890, after his examination in jurisprudence
, the University of Sydney
conferred on him the degree of LL.D. That year the College had outgrown the Ashfield site, and so the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales purchased Shubra Hall, the home of Anthony Hordern III, at Croydon
. Marden worked closely with Albert Bond, the architect
of the new school, and was responsible for most of the ideas for the new buildings, based on what he had seen at M.L.C Melbourne. Keenly interested in horticulture
, he also laid out impressive gardens and playing field
s.
In 1916, due to the overwhelming popularity of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, and under Marden's guidance, the school bought 50 acres (20 ha) at Pymble
for £15,000, and established a second campus
, The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Pymble (now Pymble Ladies' College
). Both campuses were administered by a single council until 1929. Marden was Headmaster of the two schools until ill health forced his resignation in 1919.
Marden administered both of his schools with firm discipline, kindness, understanding and generosity, and winning the respect and affection of his pupils, strongly influenced them. He was a strong believer in equal opportunity
in education, and has been described as an "early feminist" and "truly a man before his time." He scorned the idea that P.L.C Croydon was some kind of finishing school
for daughters of the wealthy, and was quoted as saying:
He believed that women should share in opportunities for secondary
and tertiary education
, and also hold high Christian
ideals. Although trained as a lawyer
, he gave physics
, chemistry
and biology
a prominent place at a time when few schools included much science in the curriculum. He also instituted a house system
in both schools. In his later years he was assisted by a prominent educational innovator, Dr E. Neil McQueen
, a scientist
and an ardent advocate of the Dalton plan
for education, who later succeeded him at the Croydon College.
where he spent his leisure time and holidays, and exercised his horticultural skills. It was here that he also he became friendly with Peter Board, then director of education.
Marden was active in the Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder
at Ashfield for 28 years, and for his last six years at Wentworth Falls. He died at Randwick
on 29 October 1924 at 69 years of age, and was buried in South Head
Cemetery. His wife, son and three daughters survived him.
, Marden Boarding House at Pymble Ladies' College
and Marden house are named after him.
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
.
Early life and training
Born in PrahranPrahran, Victoria
Prahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Marden was the fifth child of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
parents, John Marden, a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, and his wife Catherine, née Murphy. He was educated at the The Geelong College
The Geelong College
The Geelong College is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding school, located in Newtown, an inner-western suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia....
and the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where he graduated as a Master of Arts in Mathematics and Physics.
Whilst completing his law degree, Marden married a schoolteacher, Jane Armstrong at Cape Clear
Cape Clear, Victoria
Cape Clear is a small town located in Victoria, Australia. Cape Clear has a hotel and a general store. The town is close to the Woady Yaloak River. The area was once vibrant during the gold rush in the 19th century. Cape Clear Post Office opened on 17 April 1865.It is now largely dependent on...
, on 20 December 1883. He also
returned to his old school, The Geelong College, this time as a teacher under notable educator George Morrison
George Morrison
George Morrison is the name of:* George Morrison , silent film actor starring in The Cameo of the Yellowstone* George Morrison , American artist...
, moving to the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
Methodist Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
(M.L.C Melbourne) as a Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
master three years later.
Career
In July 1887, the committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales advertised for an appropriate Principal for its new school, The Presbyterian Ladies' CollegePresbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for girls in Croydon, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, Australia...
in Sydney. Marden applied for the position and was unanimously selected "because of his high academic standing, his experience and success in teaching and his high Christian character."
He opened the school with 39 students on 30 January 1888, at Fernlea, a fourteen-roomed gentleman's residence in Ashfield
Ashfield, New South Wales
Ashfield is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ashfield is about 9 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Ashfield.The official name for the...
(the current site of the Masonic Hospital), with Miss M. McCormick as lady superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
. Together with the Committee set up by the Presbyterian Church in N.S.W for establishing P.L.C, he was responsible for organising the curriculum and hiring the appropriate staff.
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
, the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
conferred on him the degree of LL.D. That year the College had outgrown the Ashfield site, and so the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales purchased Shubra Hall, the home of Anthony Hordern III, at Croydon
Croydon, New South Wales
Croydon is an affluent suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Croydon is located 11 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. Croydon is split between the two local government areas of Burwood Council and the Municipality of Ashfield.The...
. Marden worked closely with Albert Bond, the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
of the new school, and was responsible for most of the ideas for the new buildings, based on what he had seen at M.L.C Melbourne. Keenly interested in horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
, he also laid out impressive gardens and playing field
Playing field
A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games. They are generally outdoors, but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather. Generally, playing fields are wide expanses of grass, dirt or sand without many obstructions...
s.
In 1916, due to the overwhelming popularity of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, and under Marden's guidance, the school bought 50 acres (20 ha) at Pymble
Pymble, New South Wales
Pymble is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pymble is located north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council....
for £15,000, and established a second campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
, The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Pymble (now Pymble Ladies' College
Pymble Ladies' College
Pymble Ladies' College, , is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb in the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
). Both campuses were administered by a single council until 1929. Marden was Headmaster of the two schools until ill health forced his resignation in 1919.
Marden administered both of his schools with firm discipline, kindness, understanding and generosity, and winning the respect and affection of his pupils, strongly influenced them. He was a strong believer in equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
in education, and has been described as an "early feminist" and "truly a man before his time." He scorned the idea that P.L.C Croydon was some kind of finishing school
Finishing school
A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...
for daughters of the wealthy, and was quoted as saying:
I am ... out of sympathy with the cry that education is unnecessary for girls, and that all they require is a few accomplishments. Women have also to live their life - in most cases a harder one than men have. This notion of accomplishments being sufficient for girls is surely a remnant of those barbarous days when women were looked on as the plaything of men.
He believed that women should share in opportunities for secondary
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
and tertiary education
Tertiary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...
, and also hold high Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
ideals. Although trained as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, he gave physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
a prominent place at a time when few schools included much science in the curriculum. He also instituted a house system
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
in both schools. In his later years he was assisted by a prominent educational innovator, Dr E. Neil McQueen
Ewen Neil McQueen
Ewen Neil McQueen was an Australian headmaster, prominent educational innovator, scientist, psychologist and General Practitioner. He was most often known as Neil McQueen or E. Neil McQueen.-Early life and training:...
, a scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and an ardent advocate of the Dalton plan
Dalton Plan
The Dalton Plan is an educational concept created by Helen Parkhurst.Inspired by the intellectual ferment at the turn of the 19th century, educational thinkers such as Maria Montessori and John Dewey began to cast a bold vision of a new progressive approach to education...
for education, who later succeeded him at the Croydon College.
Retirement and death
Upon his retirement in 1919, Marden purchased a residence at Wentworth FallsWentworth Falls, New South Wales
Wentworth Falls is a town in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales located 100 kilometres west of Sydney, and about 8 kilometres east of Katoomba, Australia on the Great Western Highway, with a Wentworth Falls railway station on the Main Western line. The town is situated at an elevation of...
where he spent his leisure time and holidays, and exercised his horticultural skills. It was here that he also he became friendly with Peter Board, then director of education.
Marden was active in the Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
at Ashfield for 28 years, and for his last six years at Wentworth Falls. He died at Randwick
Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...
on 29 October 1924 at 69 years of age, and was buried in South Head
Sydney Heads
Sydney Heads , is the entrance to Port Jackson in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north, South Head and Dunbar Head are to the south. Middle Head, Georges Head and Chowder Head are to the west and within the bay...
Cemetery. His wife, son and three daughters survived him.
Legacy
The Marden Memorial Library at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, SydneyPresbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for girls in Croydon, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, Australia...
, Marden Boarding House at Pymble Ladies' College
Pymble Ladies' College
Pymble Ladies' College, , is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb in the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
and Marden house are named after him.