The Mary Ward Centre, previously the Mary Ward Settlement, is an adult education college located in London. It was founded by Mary Augusta Ward as the Passmore Edwards Settlement, financed by John Passmore Edwards.
There is one centre at 42 Queen Square, where over 1,000 adult education classes are offered.
The former centre at 5 Tavistock Place (1898), designed by Arnold Dunbar Smith and Cecil Claude Brewer is considered to be one of the best Arts and Crafts buildings in London. The original centre (originally the Passmore Edwards Settlement) is notable for two reasons: It was the site of the historic debate on women's suffrage between Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Mary (Mrs Humphry) Ward, Feb 1909 (Ward was president of the Anti-Suffrage League; she was decisively defeated); secondly the building housed the first fully equipped classrooms for children with disabilities and pioneered the importance of play within children's education.
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“A fallen tree does not rise again.”
—Hawaiian saying no. 2412, ‘lelo No’Eau, collected, translated, and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui, Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii (1983)
“Work elevates, idleness degrades.”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)
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