Bourne College, Birmingham

In 1876 the Birmingham PM College opened in the city centre, but moved in 1882 to purpose-built premises in Quinton, where T.J.S. Hooson became its one and only headmaster. The curriculum was wide-ranging, including current affairs and sport. The students were taken on external visits, e.g. to exhibitions, and there were close links with the local PM church. However, as with Elmfield College, the growth of affordable state secondary education, economic depression and the anticipation of Methodist Union decimated the numbers and the College was forced to close in 1928. The property was sold to the Birmingham Board of Guardians, renamed Quinton Hall and reopened as the Poor Law Convalescent Home for Aged Men. It was demolished in 1979 and replaced by housing.

Sources
  • E. Dorothy Graham, 'Bourne College: a Primitive Methodist Educational Venture' in Alan P.F. Sell (ed.), Protestant Nonconformists and the West Midlands of England (1996) pp. 135-65
  • E. Dorothy Graham, Three Colleges: PM Secondary Ventures (1998) pp.31-49
  • Michael Hall, 'Bourne College', in Birmingham Historian, no.25 (Winter 2003) pp.34-5
  • Michael Hall, Bourne College, Quinton, Birmingham: the Story of a School, Birmingham, 2011

See also

Entry written by: EDG
Category: School/College
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