Biography
Hexham was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England. After leaving school at the age of fifteen he spent six years (1958–1964) as an apprentice gas fitter with the North Western Gas Board, and obtained his City and Guilds and advanced diplomas in Gas Technology. After the completion of his apprenticeship he was offered a management position with the Gas Board. During his industrial career he also served as a union representative.
Hexham qualified for university matriculation by correspondence study and entered the University of Lancaster in 1967 where he majored in Religious Studies with minors in History and Philosophy. He graduated with a B.A.(Hons) in 1970. He then proceeded to post-graduate studies, obtaining his M.A. "with commendation" in religious studies and theology from the Bristol University in 1972. His M.A. was based on anthropological methods and theories and involved a short dissertation on Glastonbury. He obtained a Ph.D. in History from the University of Bristol in 1975. His Ph.D. thesis was on Afrikaner Calvinism and the origins of apartheid as an ideology. In the course of his studies he lived in the Republic of South Africa and studied the languages of German and Afrikaans. His M.A. supervisor was F.B. Welbourn; his Ph.D. supervisor was Kenneth Ingham. When he was in South Africa Elaine Botha at Potchefstroom University was appointed his local supervisor by the University of Bristol.
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