Recently, 26 members (plus a few partners) Zoomed in for Mawnan WI’s October monthly meeting to hear Michael Carver’s talk on the founding of the Poly, Falmouth’s historic Arts Centre. Michael, a former Poly Trustee and Administrator, explained how the Society was founded in 1833 by the Fox family, to promote grand ideas in Arts, Sciences and Invention, against a background of a thriving industrial economy in Cornwall.
The Foxes came to Falmouth in the late 18th Century and founded their very successful Shipping Agency. Additionally, they were very involved in mining and in copper smelting, based in the Perranarworthal Foundry. Michael showed a lot of interesting contemporaneous pictures and prints which illustrated his talk vividly. It was fascinating to hear about the history of the area and some of the individuals who were at the very centre of industrial and scientific developments which spread across the world.