London Fictions |
|
As Besant later wrote in his autobiography, ‘Sir Edmund Currie, trying to create such a place, used the book as a text-book. The Palace was built. It was opened in 1887.’ The building was designed by E.R. Robson, an architect of the London School Board, and it was built not at Stepney Green, but at the east end of Mile End Road. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the East London Technical College at the opening ceremony. Due to lack of funds, a City firm, the Draper’s Company, was introduced in 1890 and funded the building of the technical college. Besant disapproved of the changes to his vision wrought by the Drapers’ Company, which emphasised the importance of education above amusement. |
In his autobiography, he laments that; ‘Unfortunately a polytechnic was tacked on to [the Palace]; the original idea of a place of recreation was mixed up with a place of education.’ However, this became the only enduring aspect of the People’s Palace.
The college later became Queen Mary College, which in 1934 became a college of the University of London. Now known as Queen Mary and Westfield College, the college has been invited to join the prestigious Russell Group of universities from August 2012. Besant’s philanthropic imperative is continued by the work of People’s Palace Projects, based at Queen Mary University, who aim to use the arts to inspire positive social change and social equality. |