| AdminHistory | Williams Hughes (1856-1924) trained as a minister at Llangollen Baptist College. In 1882 the Baptist Missionary Society sent him to work in the Congo but ill-health forced his return to England three years later, accompanied by Kinkasa and Nkanza. The three toured the Welsh chapels lecturing and raising funds for their missionary work. In 1885 Hughes married the daughter of the principal of Llangollen Baptist College and in 1887 he, his wife and his African colleagues settled at Colwyn Bay, a small seaside town in North Wales, where, in 1889, he founded the Congo Training Institution. Subscriptions flowed in and within a year the institution had a new building. In 1892 Hughes published "Dark Africa and the Way Out".
The idea behind the institution was a simple one. Instead of sending white missionaries to Africa, the most promising African converts would be brought to Britain and trained – in a firmly Christian society – in a variety of useful professions. The institution attracted students from Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the United States. By 1903 over twenty students were training with local citizens and living in Colwyn Bay. During the course of their training they met Britons from all walks of life, at garden parties, at work, or as guests in local homes. |