News / Bristol
‘I’d keep studying for ever if I could’
A grandmother who overcame a life-threatening kidney infection to become Bristol University’s oldest graduate says she would keep studying for ever if she could.
Watched by her proud family, 86-year-old Peggy Styles took to the podium of the Wills Memorial Building with a beaming smile to receive her doctorate after an eight-year journey, in which she battled heartache and adversity to achieve her dream.
Peggy with daughter Julie Kane, son-in-law David and two of her three grandsons
“I was so ill that I nearly died,” recalls the grandmother, who spent a month in hospital and had to learn to walk again.
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“The university was absolutely super and agreed to suspend my studies for 18 months until I felt better. I was determined to finish my doctorate.”
Just as she was finishing her 48,000-word dissertation, Peggy was struck by tragedy when her husband, John died, in July 2016.
The moment Peggy collected her doctorate:
The pensioner from Failand in Somerset has revealed it was her grandson, Oliver, who sparked her decision to return to education when he asked for help with a school project looking at what it was like to live through World War Two.
His interest prompted her to reflect on how much her life and educational opportunities had been impacted by the war.
Peggy was born in England to Belgian parents in 1931 and was six when the family moved back to their homeland. They returned to England as refugees in 1940, managing to escape on the last troop ship sailing out of St Malo before the harbour was blown up.
The wartime childhood affected Peggy’s education and she left school at 15.
“I was young during wartime and going to university wasn’t really on anyone’s agenda at all. Life was quite different,” she says.
“Although the post-war period is still within living memory, culture has changed so much. This is one of the reasons I wanted to write about how society’s attitude towards the education of women has gradually changed.”
A pioneer of her generation, Peggy helped to set up a refuge for abused women when her husband left the army and got a job managing a factory in Scotland.
This voluntary role sparked an interest in counselling, so when Peggy returned to education, she studied for a postgraduate certificate and diploma in counselling at the University of Bristol. She has since completed a masters and, until recently, worked as a counsellor.
Peggy has been described as an inspiration
She completed an EdD – the educational equivalent of a PhD – earlier this year.
When asked how it will feel to graduate after eight years, Peggy replied: “I shall be quite grateful to get up to the stage without falling over. I wouldn’t want to fall down at the last hurdle.
“Although I’m 86, I don’t really feel that old. My legs and arms are not what they were, but my tongue still wags and my brain still functions. I’d keep studying forever if I could.”
Read more: Tetraplegic student gains first class degree
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