The
Original Westhill CollegeWesthill Endowment's History
The Charity's History
The origins of the Westhill Endowment Trust date back to the beginning of the 20th Century, when in 1907 George Cadbury and American George Hamilton Archibald founded the Westhill College. The aim was to train Sunday School leaders to spread Christian education to ordinary people through the Sunday School movement with a mainly female student body.
The college developed through the 1920s 30s and 40’s with the addition of male students with courses in youth service.
The second half of the 20th Century saw a massive increase in higher education and Westhill became a grant aided college with B Ed courses, with religious education at the core.
As the City of Birmingham became a truly multicultural and multi-faith City this was reflected in the development of Westhill College with courses on Islam which attracted young Muslim women from the City.
During the 1990’s the pioneering work of the early part of the century was represented by a wide range of degree courses, sometimes part time, attended by mature women and men and often related to work in the community.
Westhill College is now integrated into The University of Birmingham but the Westhill Trustees, as a totally independent grant giving body, will ensure that the purpose and spirit of those who have served are carried forward through their positive and careful grant-making policy.
A detailed history of the college is set out in "The Lumber Merchant and the Chocolate King" was written by Dr. Jack Priestley, a past Principal of Westhill College and is shown on this website with the permission of the Editors, the Revd. Professor Stephen Orchard and Professor J.H.Y. Briggs, of The Sunday Movement: Studies in the Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools (Studies in Christian History and Thought; Milton Keynes; ISBN-13: 978-1-84227-363-0 ISBN-10: 1-84227-363-9). Click here to download and read "The Lumber Merchant and the Chocolate King"