McMillan , Margaret , 1860-1931 , physical educator

The sisters Margaret and Rachel McMillan were Christian Socialists active in British politics and in campaigning for better education and health for poor children. They were born in 1860 and 1859 to a Scottish family, and educated in Inverness. In 1888 Rachel joined Margaret in London, where Margaret was employed as a junior superintendent in a home for young girls. She found Rachel a similar job in Bloomsbury. The sisters attended socialist meetings in London where they met William Morris, H M Hyndman, Peter Kropotkin, William Stead and Ben Tillet, and began contributing to the magazine Christian Socialist. They gave free evening lessons to working class girls in London, and in doing so became aware of the connection between the girls' physical environment and their intellectual development.

In October 1889, Rachel and Margaret helped the workers during the London Dock Strike. In 1892 they moved to Bradford, touring the industrial regions speaking at meetings and visiting the homes of the poor. As well as attending Christian Socialist meetings, the sisters joined the Fabian Society, the Labour Church, the Social Democratic Federation and the newly formed Independent Labour Party (ILP).

Margaret and Rachel's work in Bradford convinced them that they should concentrate on trying to improve the physical and intellectual welfare of slum children. In 1892 Margaret joined Dr James Kerr, Bradford's school medical officer, to carry out the first medical inspection of elementary school children in Britain. Kerr and McMillan published a report on the medical problems that they found and began a campaign to improve the health of children by arguing that local authorities should install bathrooms, improve ventilation and supply free school meals.

The sisters remained active in politics and Margaret McMillan became the Independent Labour Party candidate for the Bradford School Board. Elected in 1894 she was now in a position to influence what went on in Bradford schools. She also wrote several books and pamphlets on the subject including Child Labour and the Half Time System (1896) and Early Childhood (1900). In 1902 Margaret joined her sister Rachel in London. The sisters joined the recently formed Labour Party and worked closely with leaders of the movement including James Keir Hardie and George Lansbury. Margaret continued to write books on health and education, publishing Education Through the Imagination (1904) followed by The Economic Aspects of Child Labour and Education (1905). The two sisters were prominent in the campaign for school meals which eventually led to the 1906 Provision of School Meals Act.

Margaret and Rachel worked together in London to obtain medical inspection for the city's school children. In 1908 they opened the country's first school clinic in Bow. This was followed by the Deptford Clinic in 1910 that served a number of schools in the area. The clinic provided dental help, surgical aid and lessons in breathing and posture. The sisters also established a Night Camp where slum children could wash and wear clean nightclothes. The Girls' Camp was at 353 Evelyn Street, and the Boys' Camp at 24 Albury Street, Deptford. In 1914 the sisters decided to start an Open-Air Nursery School and Training Centre in Peckham, and within a few weeks there were thirty children at the school ranging in age from eighteen months to seven years. As the Deptford Clinic developed, so did the the training provision for teachers and in 1919 it was accorded recognition by the Board of Education as a training centre for nursery staff.

Rachel died in 1917. Margaret continued to run the Peckham Nursery and served on the London County Council. She continued to write on teaching and schools, producing a series of influential books that included The Nursery School (1919) and Nursery Schools: A Practical Handbook (1920). The teaching at Deptford continued to expand and, with financial help from Lloyds of London, new buildings in Creek Road, Deptford, were opened to continue to train nurses and teachers. The Rachel McMillan Teacher Training College, named in honour of her sister, was opened on 8th May, 1930. Students took a three year full-time course leading to a Froebel Certificate. In 1961 London County Council took over management of the College and an annexe on New Kent Road previously occupied by Garnett College was opened. Courses at the annexe focused on nursery, infant or junior teaching, leading to a London University Certificate in Education after a four-year part-time course. In 1976 the College was incorporated into Goldsmiths' College, and courses were moved from Deptford to Goldsmiths' main building at New Cross. Courses at the New Kent Road annexe became part of the Polytechnic of the South Bank. From 1980 onwards Goldsmiths' Science Departments were moved to the old Rachel McMillan building, which was refurbished and converted into laboratories. When Goldsmiths' became a School of the University of London in 1988 Science teaching was transferred to Thames Polytechnic, and the Rachel McMillan building was given over to the Polytechnic.