This web site began life as a project for the M. Ed. and then grew into a resource for people studying the "Age of Peel", British history between 1830 and 1850. Currently it is being extended to include the period 1760-1830.

Marjie Bloy qualified as a teacher  in 1968 at Alnwick College of Education, Northumberland and from then until Christmas 2001 she taught History in Rotherham, England. Whilst continuing her teaching career, she also studied part-time for higher qualifications and in 1981 she graduated in History from the University of London. In 1986 she was awarded a PhD from the University of Sheffield. Her thesis was a study of the second Marquis of Rockingham and Yorkshire Politics. In 2000, she gained an M.Ed. in Networked Collaborative Learning, also at the University of Sheffield.

Initially, she taught for eighteen years in secondary education but from 1987 she worked in Further and Higher Education. On 4 January 2002, Marjie headed off to the National University of Singapore to work there until 31 December.  She arrived home in Rotherham in early January 2003, having had a wonderful time on the "other side of the world". During the academic years 2003/5 she continued her "globe-trotting" and taught at Beijing Language and Culture University.

It's always the cat's fault

Marjie is married to Glyn; their human families live in Rotherham and Ottawa. Their furry "family" initially consisted of little ginger tripod, Suzie, who arrived as a baby in January 1989 and was the first to move in. She was a sole fur-kid until Wellington arrived through the cat-flap. Suzie took her last journey on 17 November 2005. Wellington, a grey/white tabby boy,was 21 when he took his final journey on 12 September 2007. Their very friendly large black Labrador dog, Raq - not renowned for his brain cells - took his last journey on 11 July 2005. Almost immediately after Wellington's passing, Cleo moved in, to bring back the patter of four furry feet. She was (perhaps) two years old and - like Wellington - came in through the cat-flap.

In June 2008, Magnet joined the family. Having decided that it was time to say "no more pets", Marjie rescued Alfie from the middle of a dark road one night in March 2015 and he became the youngest member of the family. Sadly, on 15 December 2015, Cleo was knocked down and killed by a hit and run driver and Alfie became the "sole kitty" until September 2016 when Ellie arrived: another rescue kitten. The household was bigger again! In the summer of 2018, Magnet became very ill, suddenly and for no apparent reason. He took his last journey on 16 July 2018. The family is back to two black cats (for the moment...).

Marjie is a member of the Rotherham Lacemakers. I do not have advertising on the website because I think it is inappropriate for an academic site. However, I have decided to make an exception with this site Mental Health, Housing and Financial Guide for Veterans because it offers help to members of our armed forces.

You can contact Marjie here. Please indicate in the subject line that your mail is related to the web site: there's so much spam around that I just hit 'delete' without reading mails from addresses that I don't recognise.

Please note: I am happy to try to answer any questions but I will not write coursework assignments for students. Any coursework questions need to be specific :)

If you mail, please be prepared to have to wait for an answer: Marjie is considered medically to be at "end of life" and has bad days as well as good ones. Not much gets done on the bad days!

If you find a broken link, please let me know, so that I can fix it.

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Important Update

Unfortunately Marjie passed away on 7th December 2020, and her husband Glyn a short time after on 29th December. Marjie was a much-loved teacher who inspired her students. She was truly one of a kind. 

One of Marjie’s last wishes was that this website should continue in the spirit in which it was set up – as a reference for those studying or teaching 18th and 19th Century British history. Therefore, one of Marjie’s ex-students’ Helen Jenkinson will now respond to any questions about the material presented. Helen is a History graduate and an experienced GCSE and A-Level History teacher; however she is no ‘Marjie’. Any material and views expressed on this website continue to be those of Marjie Bloy unless stated otherwise.