Goodwill Girl's School, Bengaluru Cantonment named after Rev. Fred Goodwill, Missionary and Tamil Scholar

Rev. Fred Goodwill, based in Bengaluru.  en.wikipedia.org

Above image: Rev. Fred Goodwill (1874–1969), native of Britain stationed  in Bangalore, British India, between 1899 and 1924, was  with  the Wesleyan Tamil Mission, Bangalore, and Kolar Gold Fields. To honor him for his work in the cause of education of native women in the Bangalore Cantonment. the mission school in Bengaluru cantonment  was  named after him  He was a linguist, fluent in  Canarese (Kannada) and Telagu (Telugu) besides being a scholar in Tamil; an authority on Tamil Shaiva Literature. A keen photographer and he his photos of Bengaluru, other places, natives were popular and published in British India..................

During the colonial era, while Christian missionaries arrived in India to spread the Gospel of Love, some focused on promoting Western education, particularly for girls. To understand the local social and cultural context, they learned the regional languages, enabling students to learn in their mother tongue during their formative years. In 19th-century Bengaluru, both Kannada and Tamil were widely spoken. Recognizing the need, Rev. Fred Goodwill, a British missionary proficient in Tamil, was determined to establish a Tamil-medium school for girls.

The Wesleyan Tamil Mission of Bengaluru, founded by Rev. Elijah Hoole and James Mowatt in November 1823, launched the school on land approved by the mission in 1821, with permission from the Madras Presidency. Located on Promenade Road, Fraser Town, in the Cantonment area, the school began modestly in a mud building with a thatched roof. The Wesleyan Mission Press was established on the same campus in 1840. Rev. Goodwill, as superintendent of the Wesleyan Tamil Mission in Bengaluru and the Kolar Gold Fields, also served as the school's manager.

In 1854, Sir Charles Wood's influential Wood's Despatch to Lord Dalhousie, then Governor-General of India, advocated for significant educational reforms. These included mass education for all castes, government schools in each district, aid to private schools, teacher appointments and inspections, and universities in major cities like Delhi, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. The Wesleyan Mission School was established in 1855, supported by a generous grant from the Madras government. 

Native Girls' School,Bengaluru  upload.wikimedia.org

Above image: 1869 CE Native Girls' School (part of Wesleyan Mission school)  and Preaching-Room, Alasoor, Bangalore, Karnataka. The school began on 2 September 1855 and  a missionary's wife ran it. The Ulsoor Wesleyan Mission School was closed in around 1954, and the school and staff were transferred to the Goodwills School at Promenade Road.........

Elijah Hoole, in his book Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India, from 1820 to 1828, acknowledged the assistance provided by the British Resident in Mysore, Arthur Henry Cole, in securing the support of the Maharaja of Mysore. It is possible that the park adjacent to the Wesleyan Tamil Mission was named Cole's Park in recognition of this support, a name it may have held for nearly 200 years.

Wesley Tamil Church, Bengaluru en.wikipedia.org

Above image: Wesley Tamil Church, Haines Road, Bengaluru  image credit:  WestCoastMusketeer -..... 

The Wesleyan Mission School, established in 1855, primarily aimed to educate the children of native Tamil sepoys of the Madras Presidency Army stationed in the Bangalore Civil and Military Station. Initially located on East Parade (present-day Manipal Centre on Dickenson Road), near the Wesleyan Church (now CSI East Parade Church), with Ms. Little as headmistress, the school began with a small number of students. It offered education in native languages, along with skills like knitting and sewing. In 1888, the Wesleyan Tamil Girls School (since 1866) moved to its current location on Promenade Road, within the Wesley Tamil Mission compound. By the start of World War I, it was the first all-girls school in the Bangalore Civil and Military Station.Till 1906 he made a vast contribution to school education and the students were admitted irrespective of caste, etc In recognition of his hard work  and contribution toward education native students of Bengaluru, the school was named after Rev, Fred Goodwill. 

Presently, more than 1200 students are enrolled in the school. Apart, the school is upgraded into junior college and degree college, functioning on the same campus. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill%27s_Girls%27_School,_Bengaluru

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Goodwill