Sir Francis Campbell

Sir Francis Joseph Campbell (9 October 1832 - 30 June 1914) was born near Winchester, Tennessee, USA and lost his sight in an accident when he was a young boy.

From an early age he was fiercely independent and throughout his life he championed those with sight loss, challenging authority and expectation. 

At aged 12 Francis attended the Tennessee School for the Blind. Here he was told that he did not have the aptitude for music and should pursue a career in basket making. Undeterred, he taught himself to play piano becoming so musically proficient that at aged 16, he was appointed music master at the school.

He later attended the University of Tennessee, leaving with a degree in Mathematics. But music was his first love and he became Musical Director at the Wisconsin School for the Blind.

Whilst working in Wisconsin, his anti-slavery views became public and he only escaped hanging due to public sympathy for his blindness.

His next post took him to the Perkins School for the Blind. He stayed for 11 years, taking a sabbatical to Germany but never returned.

During his time in Germany, he visited England and was introduced to like-minded Victorian philanthropist Dr Thomas Rhodes Armitage.

Both men were visually impaired and resolved to create a ground-breaking college focusing on offering blind students an education which would lead them into worthwhile employment. The Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind (now The Royal National College for the Blind) was born on 1 March 1872. Francis Campbell was the College's first principal.

The College proved so successful that the University of Glasgow awarded Campbell an honorary doctorate and, in 1909, he was knighted by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace.

He retired as principal in 1912 and died in 1914, aged 81.