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The Birthing of Bible Christian Methodism
Cornwall & Devon … 1815
The Cornish Story of William O’Bryan
Rev Edwin A (Ted) Curnow
2
The Birthing of Bible Christian Methodism –
Cornwall & Devon 1815
The Cornish Story of William O’Bryan
The significance of the Bible Christian Movement, its birth and growth, can only be
understood in the context of the period.
Political, Social and Religious ferment were marks of this period. Before the beginning
of the 19th century the forces of liberalism and democracy were already questioning the
repression imposed by the governing classes. Deep seated prejudices were being fanned
as radicalism began to question the Institutions of the Church and State. A passionate
Protestantism, the asserted wickedness of the Church of Rome, the hardships of rural
laborers and working class miners, marked the latter period of the 18th century and the
early 1800’s.
In an article, “The Rock From Whence We Were Hewn” John Thorne paints a dark but
picturesque countryside of “cottages clustered in unsanitary villages or scattered along
rural lanes. Agricultural laborers struggling with reduced wages. Wives patient
drudges and the children ill fed, ill clad and untaught and in a condition scarcely to be
distinguished from slavery --- religion, even in its barest and most lifeless form almost
forgotten.” 1
Religion for the Rich
The clergy and gentry who should have taken responsibility were often distracted with
other priorities such as fox hunting and bull baiting. In a lecture delivered in Adelaide in
1952 for the South Australian Methodist Historical Society, Rev W.T. Shapley recalled
that his grandfather, a tradesman in Holsworthy, Cornwall told him it was not unusual
for it to be announced in church, “There will no service next Sunday as Parson is going
hunting.” Shapley concluded, “It was in the heart of this paganism that the Bible
Christians had their birth.” 2
High taxes, rents and tithes were paid to what seemed to be useless Institutions and the
Established Church. Even before the Napoleonic wars those with mining skills were
being drawn to Latin America and this later led to a greater mass emigration, especially
from the Bible Christian heartland north east of Padstow and the border Parishes of
North Cornwall. It was in this context that G. K. Clark noted that the early 19th century
was marked by “wandering Methodists” whose appeal was often to these farm
labourers.3 Congregationalists and Baptists were also experiencing enormous growth.
While there were “ranter-type” groups and many reform campaigns being held across
the country, there were however continuing rays of light. Obviously some clergy did
remain faithful during this bleak social picture of unrest and spiritual neglect.
3
John Wesley 1743
From 1743 John Wesley, with his base at St Ives made regular visits to Cornwall and
the stagnant religious life of the County was being stirred. The Cornish with their Celtic
roots were an emotional people and responded emotionally to the gospel. One evening
on Wesley’s first visit to Cornwall he stayed at the village of Carharrack only to be
awakened at 4 am by the sound of singing. A crowd of miners had gathered, and
wanting to hear Wesley preach they passed the hours of waiting in the darkness singing.
Although there was opposition to Wesley and his ‘methods’ the response of the
Carharrack miners was evidence of an early spiritual awakening in Cornwall. There are
too many remarkable stories of this period to detail here but Revivals soon became
unremarkable, indeed they were a normal feature of Cornish life and culture.
Birthing O’Bryan 1778
Methodism spread rapidly through many
neighborhoods across Cornwall including the
Parish of Luxulyan. It was there on the 6th
February 1778 that William O’Bryan was born at
Gunwen Farm to devoted parents. (His father’s
name was William Bryan-t) His mother had been
a Quaker while his father was of Irish descent
and had become a wealthy farmer. They had
opened their home for Methodist preaching
services and during one of Wesley’s later visits
to St Austell they arranged a rather special
occasion. Referring to O’Bryan’s mother
Shapely wrote, “She took her child, a boy of
three years, up the aisle of the church to receive
a blessing from John Wesley, but what he
received that day was more than a blessing.
Wesley, an old man of 80 years, laid his hands upon the boy’s head and prayed, “may
he be a blessing to hundreds and
thousands.” Little did those who
gathered that day know that
William O’Bryan would give
birth to a movement that would
span four continents and would
see thousands of people come to
faith and enter the kingdom of
God. Shapely rightly described
something of the mystery of the
day by calling it an Apostolic
Ordination. Years later as John
Thorne reflected on the mysteries
William O’Bryan
4
on God’s ways he wrote, “The more closely the occurrences are examined which led up
to the origin of the Bible Christian denomination the more apparent becomes the hand
of providence in it all. Its strange and checkered history, the unfrequented way it has
had to travel, its destitution of the means to which men naturally look for help in any
undertaking, above all its wonderful success, are sufficient to convince any candid mind
that the Spirit of God prompted and guided the beginning of our Church” 4
As an eleven year old William
had heard a local preacher Steven
Kessell preach at Bokiddick Farm
House. Later he described what
he had experienced not as
frightening but as a humbling
sense of God’s mercy that almost
overwhelmed him. He went and
sought God’s pardon for his sins
and then as an 18 year old in 1795
he joined a Methodist Society.
From the outset there were a number of features that marked Williams’s life. Firstly, he
was born in a period when Cornwall was consistently affected by a series of Revivals.
Secondly, he was driven by a passion to see his neighbors and friends come to faith in
Christ. Thirdly, his zeal and bold witness was always productive, it always resulted in
fruit of some kind.
As the boy grew it was obvious that he was a gifted young man, a strong person of
single mind who spoke with power and with a genuine concern for others. He soon
became a Local Preacher but his sense of urgency was so intense that when other
activities distracted him from evangelism and witnessing he was left depressed and
overcome by feelings of guilt and shame.
In 1801 O’Bryan began assisting Methodist Preachers to open new Societies in
Devonshire and it became clear to some that he was being called to give himself to
ministry. With the encouragement of the lay people who had received his preaching
warmly he was led to wait on the Wesleyan District Meeting for a possible opening. For
some reason however an opening never seemed to come.
The Persistent Call 1804
A real sense of conviction and urgency returned to William in 1804 at a time when he
experienced a serious illness. He prayed “That if the Lord would raise him up again he
would go forth in his name to warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come.” After
recovering and with a pressing sense of what was described as a “divine commission”
he sought advice from others about the way ahead. Eventually it became apparent that
there was a need for another Methodist Minister in O’Bryan’s local Circuit (Bodmin)
and again with the support of the lay people and preachers he was encouraged to attend
Bokiddick Farm House
5
the Wesleyan District Meeting with view to filling the vacancy and entering the
ministry. The Chairman of the meeting we are told advised O’Bryan to return home and
to follow the Local Preaching Plan!! 5
Later in November 1810, a more decisive discipline expelled William O’Bryan from the
Gunwen Society. In a sad irony we note that Gunwen was not only the place of his
birth, but it was also the Society that William had earlier given land for the building of a
Chapel. In addition to this a number of groups he had formed were promptly removed
from his care.
Author Cyril Davey notes, “After the century the Wesleyan Church had its own
increasingly hardening establishment. There was a sharp division between ministers
and layman, who had little real power in their own church. Discipline was more likely
to be applied to those who challenged authority than those who neglected the Class
Meeting or the Communion --- in the opinion of not a few younger men Wesley’s
Methodism had lost its sense of mission and had grown stale --- despite its undoubted
strength there were many places in Cornwall and Devon, for instance where Methodist
preaching had still never been heard.” 6
William O’Bryan was obviously a strong individual who was ready to challenge
authority if he thought it was necessary. As a general principle he was careful to only
preach in places where there was no Methodist preaching but the attitude that seemed to
prevail went something like this: - “Mr O’Bryan will preach where the Superintendent
chooses to plan him and no where else”!!!
The Important Year 1815
The year of 1815 was packed with significance and the fast moving action of this period
defies description.7 It was in May 1815 that Mrs Mary Thorne (Snr) who lived at
Shebbear in Devon came under heavy conviction about how she had accused her late
father of being deluded by his interest in Methodist Preachers. (false apostles) She was
later converted by one of the Countess of Huntington’s Chaplains. The importance of
Mrs Thorne’s conversion must never be underestimated. The John Thorne family would
never be the same again, not only would they come to support William O’Bryan but
Shebbear and the Thorne family would become central to a continuing saga that would
assume international proportions and reach the remote regions of the Colony of South
Australia.
In response to a “pressing invitation” from the Superintendent of the St Austell Circuit
O’Bryan was joyfully readmitted to Methodist ranks and his Societies were gladly
incorporated into the Methodist Connexion. In January it was decided that William
would extend his preaching tours into Devon and a number of new Societies were
formed as he visited places along the way including Holsworthy, Bradford, Cookbury
and Sheepwash..
6
The Second Rejection
On William O’Bryan’s return the Superintendent of the St Austell Circuit informed him
that in line with the disciplines of the church he was withholding his membership ticket
because he had not met in Class for three weeks. This meant that for a second time
O’Bryan was expelled from the Society and similar to the first occasion he was told,
“that he had not been excluded, but he had excluded himself.”
John Thorne records, “On his return home he (O’Bryan) found that the Wesleyan
Minister had again dropped his name from the Society and all further efforts at
harmonious working with his old friends were defeated. He was thus compelled if he
would follow his long standing convictions as to his duty, to embark in an independent
career of evangelism.”8 F. W. Bourne continued, “The Methodist Preachers and
Laymen who took a leading part in the transactions which led to William O’Bryan’s
separation from the Society that he loved so well and served so faithfully, were partly
right; but they were wholly wrong in being so utterly blind to the real character of the
man whom they so foolishly thwarted – they were harsh and violent when they should
have been friendly and conciliatory.”9 William had responded, “I cannot abandon the
work – it is my first duty to obey God.”
The Bible Christian Movement
was born on 1 October 1815 when
O’Bryan wrote, “I entered on my
Circuit at Mary Week and Hex.”
He had made the important break
and drawn up what would be his
own first Preaching Plan. The first
Class Meeting was held at
Shernick farm, Launcells on 3rd
October. On October 15th
Thorne’s heard O’Bryan again at
Halsdon, Cookbury and they
renewed their invitation for the
Preacher to visit Lake Farmat
Shebbear in Devon. It was
arranged that on 8th October after preaching at Langtree he would sleep overnight at the
Thornes.
Kitchen Birth
The overnight arrangement and hospitality must have been extended because on the
next evening of 9 October 1815 William O’Bryan preached at Lake Farm. It was an
occasion of monumental significance. All five Thorne children, fifteen of the
neighbours and John and Mary Thorne (Snr) filled the kitchen and spilled over into the
parlor. The meeting commenced at 6 o’clock and continued late into the night. James
Thorne recalled, “It was a very remarkable season and an abundance of Divine
7
influence was felt by many – it seemed as if people were pinned to the floor.” O’Bryan
was ‘earnestly requested by the family to form a Society and so after explaining what
that meant, people were invited to join. The evening was clearly overshadowed by the
Holy Spirit and it could be said that it was the point when the Movement really took
root. With other steps along the way this kitchen meeting would lead to a continuing
Bible Christian Revival and a Movement that would touch many thousands of people
and draw many into the Kingdom of God.
Schism or Division of Labor
Schism and division has often been characterised as part of Cornish Methodism. Many
have passed judgment on William O’Bryan and there have been questions about why he
was so clearly rejected by Wesleyan Methodism. While today he would probably be
embraced as a courageous “church planter” it appears the Wesleyans saw O’Bryan as
an erratic man given to irresponsible evangelism. Others tended to look upon the
disciplines of the Wesleyans as limiting and harsh. The tone of the response may be
represented by a way of thinking that when expressed sounded like this. “The plan and
purpose of Methodism was not designed to kindle the zeal of a host of independent
workers who fly hither and thither snatching hasty successes and forming Societies ---
as an individual O’Bryan was at liberty to do so, but not as a Methodist. Methodism
existed to spread scriptural holiness through out the land.”
It was obvious that O’Bryan was a strong single minded leader with a preaching gift
that seemingly annoyed those who were in control, yet it would become clear that God
had chosen him to give rise to a Mission Movement that reached the poor farm labourer
and working class person. There was no doubt about his years of fruitful ministry, his
first sense of being called and his desire to join the ministry. All that had gone before
had led to the birth of a new church and faith community at Week St Mary and
Shebbear.
A Distinct Out-pouring
In his lecture, “Our Bible Christian Heritage” delivered in Adelaide in 1952 W. T.
Shapely was adamant that John Wesley was largely responsible for the creation of the
Bible Christian Church because he had ignored and by-passed that part of the country in
Devon. Shapely also claimed it was, “a break-away from the Mother Church but also a
distinct outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God.” It was all part of the, “great revival
sweeping through the County with a flame of fire at that time.” Shapely was certainly
on target here. Cornish Revivals had swept through the County at regular intervals
between 1764 and 1831. The Bible Christian Movement was just a small part of a much
larger evangelical uprising that had shaped O’Bryan’s thinking and ministry.
Holy Discontent
As much as diversity can be a mischievous disruption it can also express a healthy
vitality. Dr Arnold Hunt clearly recognised this when he wrote, “God sometimes
8
chooses to work outside the best organised of churches as Wesleyanism undoubtedly
was.” 10 In his book “Marks of Methodism,” Brian Wibberley (1905) sums it up,
“Whatever the demerits of the initial misunderstandings may have been, they are as
nothing to the merits of the intense evangelical fervor which everywhere marked the
founders of the minor Methodist churches. It was the perception of the urgent need for
evangelisation that was the quickening impulse and master-motive of those “great
hearts” like—O’Bryan and Thorne—Their efforts were, as the famous Robert Hall
declared, “very irregular,” but they were “gloriously irregularities”—Christ like,
Apostolic, and Methodistic.”
Enter James Thorne
James was one of three sons born to John (Snr) and
Mary (Snr) Thorne. As a young convert he was a
humble person but he had a desire to preach. On
Christmas day 1815 neighbours gathered in the Thorne
home to hear James first sermon. At this time openings
for William O’Bryan were multiplying so fast that he
began praying for a fellow worker. At the first local
Preacher’s Meeting on 4 March 1816, with his parent’s
approval, James Thorne still questioning “how shall I
be able to preach everyday” commenced his itinerant
ministry alongside William O’Bryan. James Thorne
would later become the “rock” of the Movement and
successor to William O’Bryan.
Trouble Makers
At the first April 1816
Quarterly Meeting held at
O’Bryan’s home in
Holsworthy it was reported
that over the Quarter numbers
had increased by 175
members now making a total
of 412. By the following
January 1817, 920 people
were recorded as being in
fellowship. Soon after this
things came to a head and a
violent persecution raged in
Holsworthy. Drums were
beaten, stones and rotten eggs were thrown and “violence came against the door” of the
home where a prayer meeting was taking place. Just as noisy revival meetings were
Lake Farmhouse Shebbear Home of the Thornes
James Thorne
9
normal so was the public persecution and bullying that followed the ministry. In more
than one way it seemed as if the days of the early church were being revisited. Just as it
was said of the first apostles, “They have caused trouble all over the world” (Acts
17:6), so in this case, the local revivalists were seen as troublemakers.
By the time six months had passed there were three fully employed traveling preachers.
As the Connexion expanded and preaching places were established the Thorne home at
Lake Farm became a retreat home for Preachers and people suffering persecution.
Preachers faced many challenges. It was a tough, testing job that involved hours of
walking long distances. Some walked as far as Exeter or Plymouth and years later we
know that James Way, (who was eventually sent to South Australia) walked 80 miles to
reach his first Station. Several influential families emerged to bring a needed stability to
the development of the fledgling Society. The Reed family, notable land owners in
North Devon, also the Courtice and Cottle families offered their homes to weary
evangelists.
Simplicity, and Inclusion
One of the early strongholds of the Bryanites/Bible Christians was the small mining
village of Hicks Mill where Billy Bray, the well known Local Preacher and later folk
hero attended soon after his conversion. The Bryanites were well placed to embrace the
rural poor and eccentrics like Billy.
Farmers and agricultural laborers were not inspired by ritualism, or the doctrine of the
priesthood, candles, incense and millinery. Liturgies and ceremonies were looked upon
with suspicion and being of Popeish practice. The Bible Christians were essentially a
Preaching Movement and when the Word was declared it was expected that the Holy
Spirit would come. In many ways they were similar to the Wesleyan’s with a simple
extemporary presentation, a theological focus on repentance and conversion, a free
salvation by grace and an inner witness to justification and sanctification. However
there was an added openness to the visitation of
the Holy Spirit often referred to as a “Divine
influence”. These doctrines would all become
normal, characteristic features of the
Movement.
This was a period of rapid growth and
extraordinary happenings well beyond the
possibility of detailing here. William O’Bryan
continued to preach in villages in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Farmers and people from different areas
travelled to meetings held in barns or peoples
homes for frequent Love-feasts, times of
singing interspersed with testimonies and prayer meetings that extended into the early
hours of the morning
Billy Bray **
10
A Bonded Family
Beyond the support of his wife and daughter O’Bryan had been the ‘engine room’ of the
New Movement, the Thorne family provided the foundation or ‘rails’ for the engine to
run on. It was John Thorne who built the first Chapel and it was his family and
grandchildren who over the years actively
helped to sustain and grow the cause. From
the outset Mary Thorne (Snr), Catherine
O’Bryan and a number of other women had
been an essential part of a closely bonded
Movement. In fact it was a network of inter-
family and extended relationships
committed to a new cause that fostered a
collegial fellowship and a corporate sense of
family.
Mission Beyond
In February 1820 with few resources but in
full flush of the Holy Spirit’s equipping,
William Lyle and James Thorne set out to
evangelise the County of Kent. In June early itinerants Catherine Reed and Ann Cory
joined them. On one occasion F.W. Bourne recorded that Ann Cory preached like John
the Baptist to a crowd of approximately 1000 people, many being rough and
uneducated. “The preaching room now became so crowded that the candles would only
“burn faintly” and often went out…Many who came to scoff, arrested by the Spirit’s
power, remained to pray. One John Allen said at a Love-feast he had been “crowned
king of liars, swearers, and drunkards by his wicked companions at the Black Lion, “---
but even his “blasphemies were turned to praise, and he was fully resolved to serve God
faithfully to the end.” After his miraculous change, his landlord had said, “The
Bryanites having got John Allen will get the devil next: Their influence over the people
is such that I shall have to let my house to them.”
The success of the mission in Kent would lead to the birth of the Bible Christian
Missionary Society formed in 1821 “--- for the purpose of sending missionaries into
dark and destitute parts of the United Kingdom and other countries, as Divine
Providence might open the way.”
Years later, Bourne wrote, “It is no exaggeration to assert that the Missionary Society
is the brightest jewel of the Denomination, its noblest ornament, its firmest pillar, and
has been its most effective instrument ---tens of thousands of converts are its crown of
glory.” Early discontent had led to vision, vision led to action and now the harvest on
an international scale would prove unstoppable. This constant passion for mission and
the conversion of souls, a legacy of William O’Bryan never faded or failed. On the
broader canvas, as it has been noted this initiative was not an isolated development,
indeed the Bible Christian Missionary Society was part of a greater nineteenth century
Ted Curnow 2011
11
Movement which sent Christian missionaries to every quarter of the globe, including
South Australia.
The Sad Departure
By the late 1820’s the Movement had grown to 8000 members and there was a
simmering concern about the concentration of power vested in one person. Since the
first Conference in 1819 William O’Bryan had not only been President but the original
Deed by which the Chapels were settled gave ultimate authority over the Connexion to
the founder. This enabled O’Bryan to veto decisions. In 1826 an amended form of the
Deed was presented. Serious objections were then raised and William O’Bryan insisted
that his single vote would decide the dispute.
At the Conference in 1827 the matter of O’Bryan’s autocracy was raised again and
O’Bryan requested that a paper be drawn up suggesting how the Connexion should be
managed in future. This was done and among other things it proposed, “That Mr
O’Bryan take a Circuit if requested.” It became increasingly clear that the early
independent trait of O’Bryan’s personality that God had used to touch the lives of so
many had now run its course. The Preachers of the Conference offered mild but firm
resistance and in 1829 nearly all those attending supported the Conference and William
O’Bryan had no alternative but to leave. The Wesleyan authoritarian style of leadership
that had rejected O’Bryan’s early ministry had now turned a full circle and had become
characteristic of his own stance.
As a result William O’Bryan left and took steps to set up his own ministry in America.
In light of this sad exit it is reassuring to know that, “during his last visit to England in
1861 he preached in many Connexional Chapels” and he enjoyed hearing his daughter
Mary (Mrs Samuel Thorne) and his grand daughter Miss Serena Thorne preach.
An Equalitarian Gospel and Growth
From the outset the Bible Christian cause was essentially a dissident Movement that
rejected hierarchical, priestly authority. It was a Movement of the laity that largely
rejected patriarchy and that established equalitarian communities around the message of
the gospel. O’Bryan was convinced that the gospel should be accessible to the rural
poor. The power of God did not lay in the structures of the church or with popes,
bishops, liturgies or traditions but in the gospel itself, the Living Word and every
ploughboy and milkmaid had the right to have access to it.
Bourne described the average Bible Christian convert as a person not having “enjoyed
the advantage of a university education, nor as being invested with any ecclesiastical
authority, nor being able to boast in intellectual powers”. In describing missionary zeal,
Bourne himself wrote, “Possessed with a deep conviction that Christian work can only
be done by Christian men,-- a converted ploughboy is more useful in missionary work
than a skeptical bishop or a proud ecclesiastic”.11 This breaching of the clergy-laity
divide and prevention of priestly domination was evident in a number of practices
12
adopted by the church. At ordination there was no laying-on-of-hands and in early days
the title of Reverend was not accepted because it was seen as a badge of Popery. Where
Wesleyans made no provision for lay-people at their Conferences, the Bible Christians
provided Lay representation.
For the next forty years James Thorne, the farmer’s son and lad who had started as an
uncertain preacher became the leader. The disruption of William O’Bryan’s departure
injured the infant Movement and was sad, but far from destroying it, “the home ground
was ploughed more thoroughly” and the real impact of the Movement’s missionary
endeavors were just beginning.
Revivals continued to both grow and renew the organisation. It is said Chapels in
Cornwall were “as common as currants in a cake,” but with limited finance volunteers
often created meeting places by patching up old barns or by erecting small, poorly built
Chapels. This is illustrated by a well-known story of a revival in 1824 when one Chapel
was so crowded and air so desperately needed that in order to avoid a disaster, a wall
was removed, partly broken down on the spot!! Over the years that followed growth,
expansion and consolidation inevitably led to the Church adopting a more structured,
Institutional form. As numbers grew Chapels were enlarged or superseded, in some
cases up to three or four times. Records show that over a 14-year period alone (1850-
1864) a remarkable 300 Chapels were built.
As time progressed so did the quality of the Chapels. The “Address to the Churches”
at the Jubilee Conference of 1865 held to the vision. The Bible Christians were always
one of the minor branches of Methodism but their contribution remains significant. The
Souvenir booklet on the eve of Church Union in England in 1907 records the Bible
Christian Church as having 181 Ministers, 1,515 Local Preachers, 628 Churches, 32,202
Members, 45,847 Sunday School Scholars and approximately 150,000 Adherents.
Bible Christian Conference. England 1865.
13
South Australia
Two Bible Christian Missionaries, James Way and James Rowe arrived at Port Adelaide
with their families in late 1850 to establish the work in South Australia. Chapels opened
in the north at Burra then in Bowden and Adelaide. George Fife Angas often supported
the Movement and points from his speech at the Foundation Stone Laying of the
Adelaide Chapel in October 1857 offer high commendation of the Bible Christian cause
that would play a significant role in pioneering our Christian heritage.
THE GEORGE FIFE. ANGAS SPEECH
(S.A.Register/Bible Christian Magazine March 1858)
Several speeches were presented at the public meeting but the remarks of George Fife
Angas were perhaps the most significant. The points he made were reported as follows:-
“His knowledge of the Bible Christian Connexion had been very short; knowing
nothing of its operations before the last three years. He remembered being in
Devonshire about forty years ago, and hearing of a great sensation at that time produced
in that County, by the preaching of the fangled doctrine of a sect then just sprung up,
calling themselves “Bible Christians.” He had however forgotten them altogether, till
about three years ago, when he was appealed to for a donation towards one of their
Chapels. He then remembered what he had heard forty years before, which led him to
make some enquiries respecting their doctrines and operations; the result of which was,
he could assure the meeting quite satisfactory. He had found that their doctrines were
not new-fangled or in any way inconsistent with the teaching of that Book after which
they call themselves. He had found on inquiry that their Ministers were a humble,
zealous hardworking class of men, whose great object was the salvation of souls. They
were not much known as yet in this city, because they sought not opportunities like
some to blaze their works before the world, and because they had been working in the
shade, i.e. in the bush, and other places destitute of the gospel. He felt sorry, and even
ashamed, that he had not made himself acquainted with them sooner than he did. Of late
he had had interviews with a few of their Ministers, and felt gratified thereby; and he
could assure the meeting that those Ministers and their people had found their way not
only into his heart, but also into his pocket; and he felt it an honour to contribute
towards their advancement of the Redeemer’s cause among the Bible Christians. He
would earnestly call upon the meeting to give liberally towards so good a cause. The
Honourable gentleman then sat down amidst great applause.”
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1 “The Rock From Whence We Were Hewn,” BCM 1897. J Thorne, P.9 2 “Our Bible Christian Heritage,” Booklet. W T Shapley. 1952 3 ‘The Making of Victoria England,” G K Clark. Page 21 4 “The Rock From Whence We Were Hewn,” BCM 1897. J Thorne, P.9 5 Rev Colin Short points out that by offering for the ministry O’Bryan would have been
committed to the work of the whole Connexion but in offering he may have had the Bodmin
Circuit alone in mind. While no evidence supports this, it could have been a reason for his
rejection. Email 1 Jan.2012 6 “The Glory Man,” Cyril Davey, P.45 7 Not only did 1 October 1815 mark the birth of the Bible Christian Movement but as Rev D G
Haydon pointed out it was the year that John Thorne (Snr) was converted in Shebbear. (In
1829 his son James became the second leader in place of William O’Bryan. It was also the
year that Napoleon Boneparte escaped from Elba, lost the Battle of Waterloo and was sent to
St Helena). 8 “The Rock From Whence We Were Hewn,” BCM 1897, J Thorne, P.14 9 “The Bible Christians,” F W Bourne. Reprint P.19,20 10 “The Bible Christians in Australia”, Dig or Die, P127 Dr A D Hunt, 1980 11 “The Bible Christians,” F W. Bourne. 1905, P100
** Page 11, Billy Bray
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~biblechristianmag/title.html
Photos: Bokiddick Farm & Thorne House Plaque. EA Curnow 2011