Personality profile
“I was blessed with a bottomless pit of energy”
Margery, who lives near the European
School of Osteopathy in Boxley, published her first book, Tree of Life, in 2009. In it, she charted the story of the school she founded with her first husband, from struggling beginnings to become one of the most respected osteopathic institutions in the world.
Born in Australia and “blessed with a
bottomless pit of energy”, Margery says she never really felt she belonged in her home country, and from a very young age, was hungry for travel. “I didn’t read comics, I read the National Geographic Magazine,” said Margery. “I was given this most amazing 21st birthday present by my mother – a round the world trip. I think she thought it was going to cure my itchy feet, but it didn’t.”
On her travels, she met her first love, Odd, who was studying and had taken a summer job as a tour manager on a trip to Scandinavia. But the romance ran into difficulties and the couple parted. “After four years, we went our separate ways and we had no contact whatsoever for half a century, but we both had the memories,” she said.
couple divorced after 14 years, but continued to work together, and Margery found new happiness with her second husband, Robert. “Soon after I married again and this time had some 20 wonderful years but then he developed dementia – such a devastating illness, “ said Margery. “I nursed him for seven heartbreaking
“I hope my story will show people that it’s never too late and that you should never give up.”
Margery went on to settle in London,
embarking on a successful career in public relations, before, in 1960, she married osteopath Tom Dummer, with whom she founded the European School of Osteopathy. “I not only married an osteopath, I married osteopathy, “ she said, “and became invoved in it immediately.”
With their vision and hard work, the
school expanded rapidly, moving from London to premises in Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, and then acquiring historic Boxley House as its new home. The
years until the suffering finally stopped.”
It seems that the next chapter in the
story might never have happened without actress Joanna Lumley.
“It’s her fault,” joked Margery. “I wrote
and told her so and she sent me such a lovely letter back.”
The Ab Fab star enters the plot
because Margery saw her TV documentary on the aurora borealis. It inspired her to go on a cruise to the Arctic Circle in the hope of seeing the Northern Lights. And that started the
Steering to success
A driving force behind the success of the school, Margery was instrumental in its move to its current home in Boxley. “The school grew so rapidly, it was beyond belief, “ she said. “We desperately needed larger premises and tried for several places but there were always difficulties.” The former hotel had been taken off the market but Margery went to see it at Christmas time and immediately decided the old mansion would be a perfect centre for the school. “It was a beautiful sparkly day. As soon as I saw it, I knew this was definitely it, “ she said. After a year of negotiation, the owner agreed to sell and the school moved to a new picturesque setting in the heart of a Kent village. Friends have described the school as “Margery’s baby”, and much of its success was due to her hard work and determination.
The school now has a world-class reputation and has graduated students from 30 different countries. Margery retired as principal in 1997 but her passion for osteopathy continues and she remains a patron of the school, along with her friends of 20 years, Paloma Picasso, daughter of the great artist, and Paloma’s husband, Dr Eric Thevenet. Currently, Margery is involved as patron of an international osteopathy conference to be held at the school in July.
8 Mid Kent Living
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64