Charles Oxley
{{Short description|Christian activist and educationalist}}
Charles Oxley (1922–1987) was a British Christian activist and educationalist.
Family: Daughter Rachel, son Michael, wife Muriel, another son?.
Establishment of three Independent Schools
File:Scarisbrick Hall, April 2015.JPG
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 in 1948 after purchasing 'The Tower' in Mill Lane in the village of Rainhill near Prescot.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-06|title=Spotlight on a School: Tower College, Rainhill|url=https://www.schoolmanagementplus.com/features/spotlight-on-a-school-tower-college-rainhill/|access-date=2021-02-15|website=Independent School Management Plus|language=en-GB}} He went on to establish Scarisbrick Hall School{{Cite web|title=Scarisbrick Hall School Website|url=https://www.scarisbrickhallschool.co.uk/|access-date=2023-04-04|language=en-GB}} in 1964 and Hamilton College in 1983.{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.hamiltoncollege.co.uk/about-us/school-history|access-date=2021-02-15|website=www.hamiltoncollege.co.uk}}
Halkyn Castle
File:Halkyn Castle, Flintshire (cropped).jpeg
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 was a secondary residence and hunting lodge for the Grosvenor family. Oxley purchased the property in Flintshire, 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.{{Cite web|title=Tower College|url=https://www.facebook.com/towercollege/reviews|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.facebook.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Charles Oxley Biography - Founder Of Scarisbrick Hall And Tower College|work=Inspirational Christians |date=17 March 2018 |url=https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/local-heroes/charles-oxley/|access-date=2021-08-01|language=en-US}}
Liverpool Bible College
A devout Christian, Oxley also ran a bible college in the Toxteth area of Liverpool. At the time of the Toxteth riots, he stayed overnight at the premises to protect the building from any possible violence from the Toxteth rioters.{{Cite web|title=The Standard Bearer - A Biography of Charles Oxley|url=http://www.quintapress.com/oxley.html|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.quintapress.com}}
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.{{Cite web|title=The Standard Bearer - A Biography of Charles Oxley|url=http://www.quintapress.com/oxley.html|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.quintapress.com}}
Legacy
Oxley died of cancer in the Autumn of 1987.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-06|title=Spotlight on a School: Tower College, Rainhill|url=https://www.schoolmanagementplus.com/features/spotlight-on-a-school-tower-college-rainhill/|access-date=2021-02-15|website=Independent School Management Plus|language=en-GB}}
Mr Oxley established three Christian independent Schools.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-06|title=Spotlight on a School: Tower College, Rainhill|url=https://www.schoolmanagementplus.com/features/spotlight-on-a-school-tower-college-rainhill/|access-date=2021-02-15|website=Independent School Management Plus|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|title=Charles Oxley Biography - Founder Of Scarisbrick Hall And Tower College|work=Inspirational Christians |date=17 March 2018 |url=https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/local-heroes/charles-oxley/|access-date=2021-08-01|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.hamiltoncollege.co.uk/about-us/school-history|access-date=2021-02-15|website=www.hamiltoncollege.co.uk}}
He protested against sex shops in several northern towns, child abuse, pornography and blasphemy.{{Cite web|title=Charles Oxley Biography - Founder Of Scarisbrick Hall And Tower College|work=Inspirational Christians |date=17 March 2018 |url=https://www.inspirationalchristians.org/local-heroes/charles-oxley/|access-date=2021-02-14|language=en-US}}
He was against the re-marriage of divorcees,{{Cite web|title=The Standard Bearer - A Biography of Charles Oxley|url=http://www.quintapress.com/oxley.html|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.quintapress.com}} and Chairman of the National Campaign for Law and Order. He campaigned for capital punishment to be re-introduced, citing his “Christian belief” as the reason for this.{{Cite news |date=2023-06-27 |title=The Times Archive {{!}} The Times & The Sunday Times |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1979-06-20/3/2.html#start=1945-12-31&end=1985-12-31&terms=charles%20oxley&back=/tto/archive/find/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/6&prev=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/56&next=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/58 |access-date=2023-06-27 |issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite news |date=2023-06-25 |title=The Times Archive {{!}} The Times & The Sunday Times |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1983-07-11/24/4.html#start=1945-12-31&end=1985-12-31&terms=charles%20oxley&back=/tto/archive/find/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/6&prev=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/55&next=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/57 |access-date=2023-06-25 |issn=0140-0460}} With regard to the Church of England, he believed it had been “infiltrated by atheistic humanism”.{{Cite news |date=2023-06-25 |title=The Times Archive {{!}} The Times & The Sunday Times |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1983-07-11/24/4.html#start=1945-12-31&end=1985-12-31&terms=charles%20oxley&back=/tto/archive/find/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/6&prev=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/55&next=/tto/archive/frame/goto/charles+oxley/w:1945-12-31~1985-12-31/57 |access-date=2023-06-25 |issn=0140-0460}}
Infiltration of the Paedophile Information Exchange
Charles Oxley was friends with Mary Whitehouse and Vice President of her National Viewers and Listeners Association.{{Cite web|title=Mary Whitehouse and Charles Oxley, of media pressure group the...|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/mary-whitehouse-and-charles-oxley-of-media-pressure-group-news-photo/110961145|access-date=2021-02-15|website=Getty Images|date=28 March 2011 |language=en-gb}} What eventually became his most high profile fame was when, in 1983, he spied on the Paedophile Information Exchange, joining it under an assumed name.{{Cite web|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRA-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=9UkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3692,4892028&dq=paedophile-information-exchange&hl=en|access-date=2021-08-20|website=news.google.com}}
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.{{Cite news|date=2014-02-27|title=How did the pro-paedophile group PIE exist openly for 10 years?|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26352378|access-date=2021-02-15}} Oxley’s testimony at the Royal Courts of Justice led to three of its leaders going to prison.{{Cite web|title=The Standard Bearer - A Biography of Charles Oxley|url=http://www.quintapress.com/oxley.html|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.quintapress.com}}
This was first reported on 25 August 1983 in the Glasgow Herald.{{Cite web|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRA-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=9UkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3692,4892028&dq=paedophile-information-exchange&hl=en|access-date=2021-02-15|website=news.google.com}} 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,{{Cite web|title=How a pro-paedophile group lobbied the government to legalise sex with children in the 70s and 80s|url=https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/paedophile-information-exchange-abuse-report-145503696.html|access-date=2021-02-15|website=uk.movies.yahoo.com|date=25 February 2020 |language=en-GB}} thus including the period that Oxley was spying on the group.