The collection contains the personal and corporate papers of Gerald West. It includes material relating to the Christian Brethren Research Fellowship and the United Kingdom Evangelisation Trust in which he played leading roles.
This collection would be of interest to anyone studying the history of Addiscombe Hall, Bush Hill Park Hall and various institutions including the Christian Brethren Research Fellowship, Partnership and the United Kingdom Evangelisation Trust.
Gerald West was born in 1931 into a family of committed Christians. His father, Frederick West worked in the construction industry and went on to become the Managing Director of an important construction company in London. Gerald's parents were involved in the formation of Addiscombe Hall in Croydon which opened in 1933 and was where Frederick became an elder and trustee.
Gerald studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London and on completion of his training, moved in to private practice. Gerald and Eileen were married and together they worshipped at Mitchley Hill Chapel in South Croydon. The 1960s and 1970s saw Gerald involved in many projects in Milton Keynes and in 1968 the Wests moved to Bedford where they attended fellowship at Rutland Gospel Hall (later known as Rutland Road Evangelical Church) where Gerald served as a trustee into the 1990s. As his career progressed, Gerald became a partner with Fitzroy Robinson, a London firm of architects and also took on responsibility for overseeing the finances of the company.
On the family's return to London in the 1980s, they attended Cholmeley Evangelical Church in Highgate, and after retiring in 1995 Gerald was able to devote more time to church activities and was involved in redeveloping the site. In 2006 Gerald and Eileen moved to Warwick and became members of Myton Church.
As well as being an active member of his local church, Gerald joined the Christian Brethren Research Fellowship (C.B.R.F.) Committee in the 1980s and shortly after became their chairman, a role he stayed in until 1999. He also joined the United Kingdom Evangelisation Trust (UKET) Council and became chairman of the Church Planting Initiative (C.P.I.). In his professional life, Gerald was a Freeman of the City of London.
The collection has been arranged into the following series:
The collection is open to any accredited reader.
The collection includes material which is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. Under Section 33 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), The University of Manchester Library (UML) holds the right to process personal data for research purposes. The Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000 enables the UML to process sensitive personal data for research purposes. In accordance with the DPA, UML has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately. Users of the archive are expected to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, and will be required to sign a form acknowledging that they will abide by the requirements of the Act in any further processing of the material by themselves.
Open parts of this collection, and the catalogue descriptions, may contain personal data about living individuals. Some items in this collection may be closed to public inspection in line with the requirements of the DPA. Restrictions/closures of specific items will be indicated in the catalogue.
The Papers were donated to the Christian Brethren Archive at the University of Manchester Library by Gerald West.
Photocopies and photographic copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.
A number of items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.
Prior written permission must be obtained from the Library for publication or reproduction of any material within the archive. Please contact the Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH.
None expected.
Tim Grass, Gathering to his Name: The Story of the Open Brethren in Britain and Ireland (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006)
Gerald T. West, From Friends to Brethren: The Howards of Tottenham - Quakers, Brethren and Evangelicals, with Introduction by Neil T.R. Dickson, edited by Tim Grass (Troon: BAHN, 2016)
