Charles Oxley (1922-1987) was a British Christian activist and educationalist.

Establishment of three Independent Schools

Oxley established three non-denominational Christian independent schools and was a campaigner on educational and moral issues. On returning from teaching in Egypt, together with his wife Muriel, Oxley opened

Tower College Tower College is an English independent non-denominational Christian school for boys and girls aged 3–16. History The school is named after the main school building, the former private residence, ''The Tower,'' on Mill Lane, Rainhill near ...

in 1948 after purchasing 'The Tower' in Mill Lane in the village of Rainhill near Prescot. He went on to establish Scarisbrick Hall School in 1964 and

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

in 1983.

Halkyn Castle

Designed by the architect John Buckler and built between 1824 and 1827 for Robert Grosvenor, who was at the time the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, and later the 1st Marquess of Westminster,

Halkyn Castle Halkyn Castle ( cy, Castell Helygain) is a mansion house in the village of Halkyn, Flintshire, Wales. The house, with its associated stable block, is designated by Cadw as a Grade II* listed building. History The house was designed by the ...

was a secondary residence and hunting lodge for the

Grosvenor family Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

. Oxley purchased the property in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, North Wales, with a view to establishing another independent school but planning permission was not granted. He therefore used the castle for school trips and charitable purposes.

Liverpool Bible College

A devout Christian, Oxley also ran a bible college in the

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area ...

area of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. At the time of the

Toxteth riots The Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community. They followed the Brixton riot earlier that year and we ...

, he stayed overnight at the premises to protect the building from any possible violence from the Toxteth rioters.

Missionary Work in India

Oxley believed in propagating his Christian faith and made ten visits to India in support of Christian schools, orphanages and for missionary work.

Legacy

Oxley died of cancer in the Autumn of 1987. Known by his pupils as 'strict but fair', Charles Oxley was a man driven by his Christian faith and a passion to defend these principles in Britain. This passion drove Mr Oxley to establish three independent Christian Schools, all of which still flourish. He protested against sex shops in several northern towns, child abuse, pornography and blasphemy. He campaigned in favour of capital punishment and against the re-marriage of divorcees.

Infiltration of the Paedophile Information Exchange

Charles Oxley was friends with Mary Whitehouse and Vice President of her

National Viewers and Listeners Association Mediawatch-UK, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (National VALA or NVLA), was a pressure group in the United Kingdom, which campaigned against the publication and broadcast of media content that it viewed as harm ...

. What eventually became his most high profile fame was when, in 1983, he spied on the

Paedophile Information Exchange The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) was a British pro- paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984.Tom de Castella & Tom Heyde"How did the pro-paedophile group PIE exist openly for 10 years?" BBC Ne ...

, joining it under an assumed name. In August 1983, Oxley handed over a dossier about the Paedophile Information Exchange to Scotland Yard, having supplied the authorities with inside information for a year. From this dossier, a special report was drawn up for Home Secretary Leon Brittan and led to criminal prosecutions. Oxley’s testimony at the Royal Courts of Justice led to three of its leaders going to prison. This was first reported on 25 August 1983 in the Glasgow Herald. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in 2020, focused on the Paedophile Information Exchange in part of their report, which covered the period 1974 and 1984, thus including the period that Oxley was spying on the group.

References

1922 births 1987 deaths Heads of schools in England Schoolteachers from Lancashire British biblical scholars Founders of English schools and colleges Founders of Scottish schools and colleges {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxley, Charles