The vision, way back in 1858, of Rev. Joseph Rippon (a great uncle of  Rev. Henry Highfield)  was the establishment of a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon. On March 2nd 1874 (the death anniversary of Rev. John Wesley) Wesley College was founded in the City Mission Buildings at Dam Street, Pettah Sri Lanka. Wesley’s first Principal was Rev. Samuel Wilkin and first Vice Principal, Rev. D. Henry Pereira. This Methodist Institution was envisaged to be a distinctly Christian college, providing a high standard of secondary education. From 1874 onwards, Wesley College has consolidated her position as a premier Christian educational institution in Sri Lanka.