John Passmore Edwards M.P. (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)
ODNB
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
article by A. J. A. Morris
Andrew James Anthony Morris (born 1936) is a historian.
He was educated at the London School of Economics and in 1974 was appointed Head of the School of Philosophy, Politics and History at Ulster College (now the University of Ulster). In 1981 he ...
, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 15 November 2007. was a British
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, newspaper owner and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
, and briefly a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
.
Early life
According to his autobiography
Passmore Edwards was born in
Blackwater, a small village between
Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
and
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England. He had three brothers, William, Richard and James. His father was a
Cornishman
The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons w ...
, a
carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
by trade. His mother's maiden name was Passmore, and she had been born in
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
.
He reported that in his youth there were few books available to him, and they were mostly theological in nature. At age twelve, the first book he managed to purchase for himself was
Newton's ''Opticks'', and he declared that he "was just as wise at the end as I was at the beginning of reading it".
Journalist
He became the
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
representative of the London ''Sentinel'', a weekly newspaper opposed to the
Corn Law
The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...
, in 1844 but the title failed within a year and by 1845 he settled in London, supporting himself by freelance writing and lecturing in the cause of social reform.
His initial publishing ventures, including the widely read ''Public Good'', were failures, bringing him to bankruptcy in 1853, but his 1862 purchase of ''The Building News and Engineering Journal'' (founded in 1854 as ''The Building News'') led to profitability; this was followed by the twopenny weekly ''
English Mechanic'' (subtitled ''and Mirror of Science and Art'') and shareholding in the leading London newspaper ''
The Echo'' which, in 1876, he later purchased. He eventually sold two-thirds of his share in ''The Echo'' to
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
to follow a political and social agenda. However, they disagreed and he bought it back and restored his editor in 1886. The paper closed in 1905.
Ebeneezer J. Kibblewhite was longtime editor of ''The Building News and Architectural Journal'', which in 1926 merged with ''
The Architect'' to become ''
The Architect and Building News
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
''.
He was also editor of ''The Weekly Times and Echo'' (owned by Edwards) and ''English Mechanic''.
In 1893 Edwards and Kibblewhite were, as proprietor and editor/printer of ''The Weekly Times and Echo'' sued for libel by
Colonel Hughes–Hallett, Edwards's one-time rival for parliamentary honours, thus imputing malice. The offending article, published in the issue of 29 May 1892, included the words
It is reported that Colonel Hughes-Hallett, formerly M.P. for Rochester, is going to honor the new Parliament with his presence if he can get returned. He should stand with Sir Charles Dilke
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet, PC (4 September 1843 – 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and Radical politician. A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Liber ...
for some double-barrelled constituency, where the electors are not particular, and then we should have a suitable champion of purity on each side of the House, in view of eventualities, Hallett and Dilke ! Sodom and Gomorrah might have been proud of such a distinguished pair of representatives.
After a review of the Colonel's misdeeds as revealed in the ''
Pall Mall Gazette
''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...
'', and the admission by Kibblewhite that he was the author of the offending lines, not Edwards, the jury found for the defendants.
Politics
He was a delegate to the
Peace Congresses in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
(from 1848 to 1850). He stood as an Independent candidate for
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
in the
General Election of 1868. He did not win this seat but in 1880 he gained the parliamentary seat of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
.
However, he soon became somewhat sceptical about the quality of professional politics and the inability of politicians to effectively represent the interests of their constituents, and his opposition to the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
lost him some popularity.
He twice refused a knighthood.
Philanthropy
![John Passmore Edwards Vanity Fair 1885-10-17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/John_Passmore_Edwards_Vanity_Fair_1885-10-17.jpg)
A lifelong champion of the working classes, Passmore Edwards is remembered as a generous
benefactor. Over the space of 14 years, 70 major buildings were established as a direct result of his
bequest
A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably.
The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
s. These included hospitals, 11 drinking fountains, 32 marble busts, 24 libraries,
schools, convalescence homes and art galleries and the Passmore Edwards Settlement (later called the
Mary Ward Centre
The Mary Ward Adult Education Centre is part of the Mary Ward Settlement, in Queen Square, London.
History
The centre was founded by Mary Augusta Ward, a Victorian novelist and founding president of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League, be ...
), which was originally located at
Mary Ward House
Mary Ward House is a grade I-listed building and conference centre in Bloomsbury, in London, England. It was the headquarters of the National Institute for Social Work Training, part of the settlement movement. Built between 1896 and 1898, the ...
on
Tavistock Place
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...
. He was also a generous donor to the
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...
.
Many of Passmore Edwards' buildings were designed by the architect
Maurice Bingham Adams
Maurice Bingham Adams FRIBA (1849–1933) was a British architect in the Arts and Crafts style.Curl, J. S., & Wilson, S., (2015) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture'', 3rd edn, (OUP, Oxford)
Life
Adams was born in 1849 and educated in Lewe ...
, who was also the editor of one of his journals, ''Building News''.
In 1898 Passmore Edwards donated substantially to the Essex Local and Educational Museum of Natural History, which was later named the
Passmore Edwards Museum
The Passmore Edwards Museum was a museum in Stratford, East London. Earlier in its life it was also known as the Essex Local and Educational Museum of Natural History.
It began life as the collection and library of the Essex Field Club, which ...
.
[ ]
He also gave money to many hospitals including Tilbury Hospital next to Tilbury Dock Essex, where he built a ward which was named after him. Wards in Wembley Cottage Hospital and Willesden General were also named after him. He also donated his earnings to a fountain in
Hoxton Square
Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digita ...
, Shoreditch, London. This fountain is regularly frequented by the local community and is considered a historical landmark in an area that finds itself becoming more and more detached from its history. Upon reading John Passmore Edward's plaque, the community believe he would smile on and embrace knowing that what he left behind was being used for the enjoyment of like-minded individuals.
Passmore Edwards was a leading
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, and a founder in 1906 of the Standard Chapter of Improvement, which sought to simplify and unify the incoherent rituals of the
Holy Royal Arch
The Royal Arch is a degree of Freemasonry. The Royal Arch is present in all main masonic systems, though in some it is worked as part of Craft ('mainstream') Freemasonry, and in others in an appendant ('additional') order. Royal Arch Masons meet ...
degree. He was a
teetotaller
Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...
and
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
.
Legacy
Many of the buildings that he paid for are still in use for their original purpose. A bust of Passmore Edwards by Sir
George Frampton
Sir George James Frampton, (18 June 1860 – 21 May 1928) was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combining ...
was rescued from the basement of
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
Library and unveiled in May 2007 at the Passmore Edwards Library in
St. Ives, Cornwall
St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning " St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent ...
.
As well as London libraries such as at
East Dulwich
East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteen ...
and
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, he gave the public library buildings in Devon at Newton Abbot and in Cornwall at
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
,
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
,
Falmouth,
Launceston,
Liskeard
Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...
,
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
,
Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
,
St Ives and
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
.
The
Passmore Edwards Public Library in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
, London, is now the home of the
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...
, which moved there in October 2011.
The Passmore Edwards Public Library in Borough Road, London, has been refurbished by London South Bank University and houses the university's apprenticeships and a coffee shop.
The
Epilepsy Society
The Epilepsy Society (formerly known as the National Society for Epilepsy) is the largest medical charity in the field of epilepsy in the United Kingdom, providing services for people with epilepsy for over 100 years. Based in Chalfont St Peter, Bu ...
's main administrative office is sited at Passmore Edwards House, a Grade II listed building.
Gallery
File:Photo of Mr. John Passmore Edwards.jpg, Photo of Mr. John Passmore Edwards.
File:PassmoreEdwards.jpg, Passmore Edwards Cottage Hospital in Acton, London
Acton () is a town and area in west London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross.
At the 2011 census, its four wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 62,480, a ...
. Built c. 1900, it is an example of Passmore Edwards' philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. ''(September 2006)''
File:DSCN1991MaryWardSettlementTavistockPl.jpg, Passmore Edwards Settlement building, now Mary Ward House
Mary Ward House is a grade I-listed building and conference centre in Bloomsbury, in London, England. It was the headquarters of the National Institute for Social Work Training, part of the settlement movement. Built between 1896 and 1898, the ...
, Tavistock Place.
File:TruroLibraryAndTechnicalSchoolBuilding.jpg, Truro Public Library and Technical School
File:Falmouth-Library-and-Art-Gallery.JPG, Falmouth Public Library and Art Gallery
File:Passmore Edwards Institute, Hayle Terrace. Hayle, Cornwall - May 2022 (2).jpg, Hayle Institute, Hayle
Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
, Cornwall.
File:The Passmore Edwards Public Library in Newton Abbot.JPG, Newton Abbot Library
File:Passmore Edwards Library Shepherds Bush.jpg, Passmore Edwards Public Library in Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
File:Passmore Edwards Public Library, East Ham.jpg, Passmore Edwards Public Library, East Ham
East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186.
It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...
, London. Now used as Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...
register office.
File:UEL Stratford Campus.JPG, West Ham Technical Institute
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
and the Passmore Edwards Museum
The Passmore Edwards Museum was a museum in Stratford, East London. Earlier in its life it was also known as the Essex Local and Educational Museum of Natural History.
It began life as the collection and library of the Essex Field Club, which ...
, West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
, London, 1900. Now used as the University of East London
, mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows
, established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
and its student union respectively. John Passmore Edwards opened the College in 1900, which he described as the `People's University'. This followed the first stone being laid for the building on the 29th October, 1898.
File:Passmore Edwards House, Chalfont Centre - geograph.org.uk - 124557.jpg, Passmore Edwards House, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. The building is now used as the main offices for Epilepsy Society.
References
Bibliography
*Baynes, Peter ''John Passmore Edwards 1823-1911: an account of his life and works'', P. A. Baynes (1995)
*Best, R. S. ''The Life and Good Works of John Passmore Edwards'', with pen and ink illustrations by C. M. Pellow and a list of Buildings, sponsored by Edwards, their architects and opening dates, with an appendix on the architect
Silvanus Trevail
Silvanus Trevail (11 November 1851 – 7 November 1903) was a British architect, and the most prominent Cornish architect of the 19th century.
Early life
Trevail was born at Carne Farm, Trethurgy in the parish of Luxulyan, Cornwall on 11 Nove ...
, [(1851–1903), who designed nine of them. Dyllansow Truran (1982)
*Burrage, E. H. ''J Passmore Edwards, Philanthropist'' (1902)
*Edwards, J. Passmore ''A Few Footprints'' (1906)
*Evans, Dean, "Funding the Ladder: the Passmore Edwards legacy", 2011 (Francis Boutle Publishers, London)
*Ewing, Heather, ''The Passmore Edwards Public Libraries in London: A Study in Patronage and the Development of a Typology,'' unpublished thesis (Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 1998)
*MacDonald, J. J. ''Passmore Edwards Institutions'', Strand Newspaper Company (1900)
External links
*
John Passmore Edwards 1823-1911 His life and Philanthropic worksWhitechapel Ghostsfrom ''Jewish Quarterly''.
Passmore Edwards Institute in Hayle, Cornwall - Website - includes portrait (accessed 17 November 2007)
* , also, search under "Passmore Edwards"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passmore Edwards, John
1823 births
1911 deaths
People from St Agnes, Cornwall
Cornish philanthropists
British male journalists
British newspaper editors
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1880–1885
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Wiltshire
Members of Parliament for Salisbury