Plymouth Marjon University

The history of Marjon

In 1840 our first students took their seats in St John’s College, Battersea. In 1841, the first students arrived at St Mark's College, Chelsea. The two colleges amalgamated in 1923, after the War, becoming 'Marjon'.

Back in February 1840 when we welcomed our first students, many people believed that education was only for the elite.

180 years of thinking differently

Marjon exists because our founders saw a problem of poverty in Victorian London, and they acted. They set up colleges specifically to educate young orphans from the workhouses, and bring them out of poverty.

They recognised that teaching was a profession, which needed rigour, technique and sophistication, and with their actions they committed to improving education for all.

For 180 years, Marjon staff and students have acted on the courage of their convictions, making a difference to lives across the world. We look forward to a vibrant future of enhancing even more lives by thinking and acting differently.

Opportunity for all

Innovative plans for the first bespoke teacher training college, St John's in Battersea, were first set in motion in the 1830s. Our first students – including orphans from a local workhouse – started their training in February 1840.

The founding principals of each college, James Kay-Shuttleworth of St John’s in Battersea and Rev. Derwent Coleridge of St Mark’s in Chelsea have been credited for developing the first national school system, and the colleges that were needed to train the teachers.

Both were driven by their strong principles of social justice and first-hand experiences of poverty and inequality, to establish a means for everyone to access high quality education regardless of background or means. They saw education as key to providing a pathway out of poverty and towards opportunity and achievement for all.

Our founders, James Kay-Shuttleworth and Derwent Coleridge, had other ideas. Big ideas. They started training orphans from the local workhouse to become teachers, changing lives by providing a route out of poverty. 

Some people didn’t like it at the time but our founders weren’t afraid to think differently.

Many years on and we’re still a supportive community, providing life changing experiences for students. That’s who we are, that’s who we’ve always been.