On Monday 24th March we joined the UK wide celebrations of the birthday of the extraordinary philanthropist, John Passmore Edwards, who was born 200 years ago by proclaiming on the streets of St Ives outside of the Library & Information Centre.
Passmore Edwards was a life-changing champion of the working classes and put his money into projects that would educate the general public. He died in 1911, after having raised funding for seventy public buildings throughout Cornwall and the South of England, including libraries, educational establishments, convalescent hoes, hospitals and art galleries. Most of these are still used for their original purpose.
We celebrated this extraordinary man through the month of March with an exhibition in the Greta Williams Room in St Ives Library, probably our best loved local building, built in 1897. Here, a small display had been created by volunteers from St Ives Archive. Throughout the month visitors were encouraged to add their own memories of our library. We have also planted a Rowan tree at Palemon Best Recreation ground to commemorate this remarkable man.
For more information about Passmore Edwards click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Passmore_Edwards
