Albert West (1879-19??) was originally from Lincolnshire, England. He was twenty-four years old and running a printing operation in Johannesburg, South Africa, when he first met Gandhi in 1903. They encountered one another at a vegetarian restaurant in Johannesburg, and formed a quick friendship. Gandhi turned to West for help when he learned that his newspaper, Indian Opinion, was in financial distress. Gandhi asked West if he would consider moving from Johannesburg to Durban in order to take over the press operations for Indian Opinion. West agreed, and in the fall of 1904, he alerted Gandhi that Indian Opinion was running at a significant loss. Gandhi decided to travel from Johannesburg to Durban to meet West and together try to sort out the newspaper’s financial situation. On the overnight train Gandhi read an essay by John Ruskin titled “Unto This Last,” and was so influenced by the essay that he decided to immediately put its ideals into practice and found his first intentional community, and he invited West to join him. 

Gandhi proposed to Albert West that they move the printing press to a remote location outside Durban, where Gandhi, West, the press workers, and a cohort of like-minded friends could live and work together as equals. West readily agreed to this proposal, and later recollected being drawn as much to the utopic idea of living and working on a collective farm as he was to Gandhi himself. West was one of the first residents at Phoenix Settlement. In 1908, West’s marriage to Ada West (nee Pywell) was celebrated at Phoenix Settlement, and his new bride joined the growing community. Albert also brought his elder sister, also named Ada (who came to be known as Deviben), from England to join the community, and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Pywell (who came to be known as Granny). Albert and Ada’s children, Hilda and Harry, were born at Phoenix Settlement.

When Gandhi departed South Africa in 1914 to return to India, Albert West elected to continue living at Phoenix Settlement with his family, helping to run the community and ensure that it continued to fulfill its mission. West served as editor of Indian Opinion until Gandhi’s second-eldest son, Manilal Gandhi (who returned to South Africa from India in 1917), assumed this role in 1920.