Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon.

Henry Highfield, Wesley was moved from Dam Street, Pettah to its current residence at Karlsruhe Gardens, Borella in 1907.

The Methodist institution was envisaged to be a distinctly Christian college, but it currently provides secondary education for over 3,000 Sri Lankan students from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.

[citation needed][2] Wesley College has established two branches to accommodate its growing number of students.

[citation needed] The lyrics were composed by H. J. V. I. Ekanayake in 1898, and set to the music of "Scots Wha Hae" by Robert Burns.