John Marden (9 April 1855 – 29 October 1924) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

, pioneer of women's education, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

elder.

Early life and training

Born in

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Marden was the fifth child of

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parents, John Marden, a

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

, and his wife Catherine, née Murphy. He was educated at

The Geelong College , motto_translation = Thus one goes to the stars , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = in association with the Uniting ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, where he graduated as a Master of Arts in Mathematics and Physics. While 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 ("For God and for Home") , established = , type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding school , denomination = Uniting , slogan = "MLC girls become world-ready women"

(M.L.C Melbourne) as a

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

master three years later.

Career

In July 1887, the committee of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales advertised for an appropriate Principal for its new school, The Presbyterian Ladies' College 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 Sydney Private Hospital), with Miss M. McCormick as lady

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

. 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 Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

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 is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. Marden worked closely with Albert Bond, the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

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 is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, he also laid out impressive gardens and

playing field Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functio ...

s. In 1916, due to the overwhelming popularity of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, and under Marden's guidance, the school bought at Pymble for £15,000, and established a second campus, The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Pymble (now

Pymble Ladies' College Pymble Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History and description Pymble Ladies' College was founded ...

). 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 is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

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:

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 and

tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

, and also hold high Christian ideals. Although trained as a lawyer, he gave

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, chemistry and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

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 A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

and an ardent advocate of the

Dalton plan The Dalton Plan is an educational concept created by Helen Parkhurst. It is inspired by the intellectual ferment at the turn of the 20th century. Educational thinkers such as Maria Montessori and John Dewey influenced Parkhurst while she create ...

for education, who later succeeded him at the Croydon College.

Retirement and death

Upon his retirement in 1919, Marden purchased a residence at

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoomba, Australia on the Great Western Highway, with a Went ...

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.

Legacy

The Marden Memorial Library at the

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (PLC Sydney) is an independent school, independent Presbyterian Church of Australia, Presbyterian Single-sex school, single-sex Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary sc ...

, Marden Boarding House at

and Marden house are named after him.

References

External links