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Rev William “O'Bryan” Bryant

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Rev William “O'Bryan” Bryant

Birth
Luxulyan, Cornwall Unitary Authority, Cornwall, England
Death
8 Jan 1868 (aged 89)
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
Burial
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA Add to Map
Plot
Section 91, Lot 924
Memorial ID
View Source
O'Bryan was born William Bryant at Gunwen farm, Luxulyan, Cornwall and was converted to Wesleyan Methodism. In 1815 he changed his surname to O'Bryan, wishing to assert his presumed Irish ancestry. On 18 October 1815 he founded, with 22 members, the Bible Christian sect later known as "Bryanites".

Following his split from the Wesleyans in 1815 his family moved from Kilkhampton to Badash Farm, Launceston, Cornwall, where the Bible Christians held their first two conferences. The farm is now a listed building[1] for its unusually well preserved set of 18th-century buildings set amidst open farmland.

The first Bible Christian chapel was built in Shebbear, Devon in 1817. His movement spread mainly through North Cornwall, including Padstow, Bude and Launcells. O'Bryan left the group in 1832 after a dispute over church administration, and became an itinerant preacher in the US,[2] between 1831 and 1862 crossing the Atlantic 13 times, but failed to establish a church. The Bryanite sect merged with the United Methodists in 1907.

He married Catherine Cowlin on 9 July 1803; they had two sons and six daughters.

Reading

Harmon, Nolan B., general ed. (1974) Encyclopedia of World Methodism
Lewis, Donald M., ed. (1995) Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1739-1860
Shaw, Thomas (1965) The Bible Christians 1815-1907. London: Epworth Press
Shaw, Thomas (1967) A History of Cornish Methodism. Truro: Bradford Barton; pp. 88–92William Bryant changed his surname to O'Bryan, he was a Methodist preacher, founder of the "Bible Christians" of which Billy Bray the Cornish preacher was a member.Bryant went to N. America crossing the Atlantic 13 times. He died in New York.

Addition by Paul Massey.

Wy wife's Gt.Gt.Gt.Gt grandfather William Bryant/O'Bryan, founder of the Bible Christians, is buried in Greenwood Cemetary, Brooklyn N.Y in the same grave as his wife Catherine (nee Cowlin), He died 8th January 1868, Catherine in 1860.
O'Bryan was born William Bryant at Gunwen farm, Luxulyan, Cornwall and was converted to Wesleyan Methodism. In 1815 he changed his surname to O'Bryan, wishing to assert his presumed Irish ancestry. On 18 October 1815 he founded, with 22 members, the Bible Christian sect later known as "Bryanites".

Following his split from the Wesleyans in 1815 his family moved from Kilkhampton to Badash Farm, Launceston, Cornwall, where the Bible Christians held their first two conferences. The farm is now a listed building[1] for its unusually well preserved set of 18th-century buildings set amidst open farmland.

The first Bible Christian chapel was built in Shebbear, Devon in 1817. His movement spread mainly through North Cornwall, including Padstow, Bude and Launcells. O'Bryan left the group in 1832 after a dispute over church administration, and became an itinerant preacher in the US,[2] between 1831 and 1862 crossing the Atlantic 13 times, but failed to establish a church. The Bryanite sect merged with the United Methodists in 1907.

He married Catherine Cowlin on 9 July 1803; they had two sons and six daughters.

Reading

Harmon, Nolan B., general ed. (1974) Encyclopedia of World Methodism
Lewis, Donald M., ed. (1995) Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1739-1860
Shaw, Thomas (1965) The Bible Christians 1815-1907. London: Epworth Press
Shaw, Thomas (1967) A History of Cornish Methodism. Truro: Bradford Barton; pp. 88–92William Bryant changed his surname to O'Bryan, he was a Methodist preacher, founder of the "Bible Christians" of which Billy Bray the Cornish preacher was a member.Bryant went to N. America crossing the Atlantic 13 times. He died in New York.

Addition by Paul Massey.

Wy wife's Gt.Gt.Gt.Gt grandfather William Bryant/O'Bryan, founder of the Bible Christians, is buried in Greenwood Cemetary, Brooklyn N.Y in the same grave as his wife Catherine (nee Cowlin), He died 8th January 1868, Catherine in 1860.


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