Cordukes family return to York St John
Alumni Relations Coordinator, Billy Jones, takes the Cordukes family on a tour of the campus.
On Friday 2 June, we were excited to welcome John, Heather and their daughter Erin to York St John University. None of them have ever studied at York St John, in fact last week was the very first time any of them had even visited York, but they have a rather special connection with our University, they all share the same last name, Cordukes.
Those who are familiar with the history of York St John will know that our first ever student was Edward Preston Cordukes, he arrived and enrolled 176 years ago on 17 May 1841 to train as a teacher, he was just 16 years of age. In fact Edward remained the only student at the ‘York Diocesan Training and Middle School’ as it was then, until late July 1841, when he was joined by a second student, a further two more students registered in September later that year to make four in total, quite a difference from the 6,500+ students the University has now.
John, Heather, and Erin spend some time talking with Vice Chancellor Prof. Karen Stanton.
Edward would have left two years later in 1843, having successfully trained to become a teacher.
John and his family were visiting from Canada where they live. They are directly descended from members of the Cordukes family who emigrated there from York in the mid 1800’s.
University Vice Chancellor Professor Karen Stanton was delighted to personally welcome John and his family to York St John. Following their meeting with the Vice Chancellor, the family had the opportunity to see where Edward is mentioned and remembered on our campus today, which included a visit to the University Archives In the Fountains Learning Centre, to see our original student register and reception book from 1841, where Edward is officially recorded as our first ever student.
The Cordukes family look through the original 1841 student register and reception book, where Edward is recorded as our first ever student.
We’d like to thank John and his family for taking the time to come and visit York St John, and for reconnecting the Cordukes family with the University.
