John Wroe

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John Wroe
Born19 September 1782
East Bowling, Yorkshire, UKGBI
Died5 February 1863(1863-02-05) (aged 80)
Collingwood, Melbourne, Colony of Victoria
Other names
  • John Roe
  • Joannes Roes
Occupations
Spouse
Mary Wroe
​
​
(m. 1816;died 1853)​
Religion Christian Israelitism (1822–)
ChurchChristian Israelite Church

John Wroe (Latin : Joannes Roes; 1782–1863) was a British farmer and wool comber, known for founding the Christian Israelite Church. [1] [2] [3] Wroe is considered the fifth messenger in the Christian Israelite tradition. [4]

Contents

Early life

John Wroe, alternatively spelt Roe, was born on 19 September 1782 in the hamlet of East Bowling, (present-day, Bradford) to Susannah Roe ( née  Fernley) and Joseph Roe, a farmer, worsted manufacturer, and collier. [1] [5] [6] Baptised at Bradford Cathedral on 8 December, Wroe was raised in a devot Church of England household. [1] [7] [6] The Wroe family believed in prophecies, naming there youngest son Thomas after his maternal grandfather who prophesied that the "Lord would raise up a priest from the fruits of his loin". [6]

Wroe had at least two brothers, Joseph and Thomas, and one sister. [1] [8] [6] Wroe claimed that he was mistreated by his father, who favoured his brother Joseph. [6] Wroe had severe Kyphosis, which he claimed was a result of him having to carry "a window stone to the second floor" whilst conducting repairs on some houses bought by his father, and potentially a speech disorder which affected the fluency of his speech. [1] [4] [3] [6] Working with his father from a young age, Wroe received little education and was functionally illiterate. [1] [3] [6] However, the extent of Wroe's illiteracy was possible exaggerated by both his followers and critics. [6]

Around aged 15, Wroe began an wool-comber apprenticeship with his uncle but was persuaded to return home by his father. [6] Around 1810, Wroe set up his own farming and wool combing business on Tong Street. [1] [6] By the latter half of 1816, Wroe began exhibiting symptoms of mania. [1] [8]

Religious life

Visions

In Autumn 1819, Wroe became severely ill with a fever. [1] [6] Advised to make final arrangements, Wroe requested that his wife Mary Wroe call for Methodist ministers to pray with him. [6] However, the Methodist ministers refused and Wroe requested that Mary read the bible to him. [6] During his recovery Wroe read his bible, often in public. [1] [6] Later in the year, Wroe's fevers returned and began having visions. [1] [3] [6] Wroe spoke of his visions to both his family and neighbours and although not a Southcottian himself, many of Wroe's neighbours were members of the Bradford Southcottian body. [3] On the 12 November, Wroe's neighbour Abraham Holmes, a Bradford Southcottian, began transcribing Wroe's visions. [1] [3] Wroe continued to experience further visions and crowds began to gather to hear him speak on them. [3]

On 1 February 1820, Wroe became blind during a vision. [1] [8] Sceptical, Mary had Wroe's head shaved by a neighbour. [1] [8] [6] In early 1820, Holmes published a chapbook of Wroe's first visions entitled The Vision of an Angel. [3] On 3 April 1820, George Turner head of the Southcottian movement received a letter, whilst being held at the Retreat asylum, from his Bradford followers "making inquiries about Wroe’s visions". [3] [9]

Christian Israelitism

Following Turner's death in September 1821, William Shaw became the movements successor. [4] However, by 1822 several Southcottian society committees recognised Wroe as Turner's successor . [1]

On the 13 December 1822, Wroe founded the Christian Israelite Church in Wakefield, which was commenced with a 36 hour gathering. [10]

Wroe, although often persecuted and threatened, travelled throughout Europe including Gibraltar, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. He later travelled to the United States, and Australia. [11]

Wroe's name was Latinised as Joannes Roes by his followers. [8]

The Christian Israelite Church was originally set up in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire and from 1822 to 1831 the church's headquarters were in the town. In the 1820s the church trustees wanted to turn Ashton-under-Lyne into a "new Jerusalem". They intended to build a wall around the town with four gateways, and although the wall was never constructed, the four gatehouses were, as was a printing press. These plans failed when the Trustees were replaced and the church headquarters moved to Gravesend in Kent in the 1830s. Popular opinion in Ashton turned against Wroe when, in 1831, he was accused of indecent behaviour, but the charges were dismissed. The church spread to Australia, where it is still active. [12] [13]

On 5 February 1863, Wroe died in the suburb of Collingwood, Melbourne in the Colony of Victoria (present-day, Victoria, Australia) aged 81. [2] [14] Wroe left church affairs in the hands of his trustees. [2]

Personal life

On 22 April 1816, Wroe married Mary Wroe (née Appleby; 1785–1853). [1] [15] [16] Together they had at least 7 children, 3 of which died in infancy. [6] [10] [17] [18] [19]

Cultural depictions and legacy

Wroe’s life was the basis of a novel, Mr Wroe's Virgins by Jane Rogers. [20] In 1993 Jonathan Pryce featured as Wroe, alongside Kathy Burke and Minnie Driver, in a BBC mini-series adaptation of the novel directed by Danny Boyle. [21] [22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Stunt, Timothy C. F. (2004). "Wroe, John (1782–1863), founder of the Christian Israelites". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30079.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 Roe, Michael (1967). "Wroe, John (1782–1863)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lockley, Philip (2012). "Building Jerusalem". Visionary Religion and Radicalism in Early Industrial England: From Southcott to Socialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 103–124. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199663873.003.0005. ISBN   9780191744792.
  4. 1 2 3 Sterne, Evelyn (2025). ""The Acorn from which the Sturdy Oak Will Grow": The Origins of the House of David". The House of David: Salvation, Scandal, and Survival in a Modern American Commune. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 17–36. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197792339.003.0002. ISBN   9780197792360.
  5. ↑ "BDP14 Susannah Fernley and Joseph Wroe [Marriage]", Yorkshire Parish Records; Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral), Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service, 1778
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Green, Edward (2005). "A Prophet is Born". Prophet John Wroe: Virgins, Scandals and Visions in Victorian England (1 ed.). Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 1–17. ISBN   978-0752495750 . Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "BDP14 John Roe [Baptism]". Yorkshire Parish Records: Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral). Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1782.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Gordon, Alexander (1921–1922). "John Wroe". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. Vol. 21. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 1073–1075.
  9. ↑ Green, Edward (2005). "The Southcottians". Prophet John Wroe: Virgins, Scandals and Visions in Victorian England (1 ed.). Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 17–32. ISBN   978-0752495750 . Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  10. 1 2 Gray, Lynne (15 September 2005). "John Wroe". Christian Israelite Church History. Darlinghurst, New South Walkes: Christian Israelite Church. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Official Christian Israelite Website 2008
  12. ↑ Nevell (1994), p. 95.
  13. ↑ "A Tribute to Prophet Wroe 1782–1863", Tourist Information Centre, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, archived from the original on 6 September 2023, retrieved 10 July 2009
  14. ↑ "THE WROEITES". Central Somerset Gazette. Wells, Somerset. 9 July 1864. p. 4.
  15. ↑ "BDP14 John Wroe and Mary Appleby [Marriage]". Yorkshire Parish Records: Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral). Leeds, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1816.
  16. ↑ "RDP68/9/4 Mary Appleby [Baptism]". Yorkshire Parish Records; Leeds, St Peter. Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1785.
  17. ↑ "BDP14 Joseph Wroe [Baptism]". Yorkshire Parish Records; Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral). Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1816.
  18. ↑ "BDP14 Mary Wroe [Baptism]". Yorkshire Parish Records; Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral). Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1820.
  19. ↑ "BDP14 Benjamin Wroe [Baptism]". Yorkshire Parish Records; Bradford, St Peter (Bradford Cathedral). Wakefield, Yorkshire: West Yorkshire Archive Service. 1823.
  20. ↑ Rogers, Jane (2011). Mr Wroe's Virgins. Hachette UK. ISBN   978-0-618-06613-1.
  21. ↑ "Mr. Wroe's Virgins" . Retrieved 31 March 2018– via www.imdb.com.
  22. ↑ "The story of John Wroe – the self-proclaimed Prophet who taught that Ashton would be The New Jerusalem". Visit Manchester. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2024.

Bibliography

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