Rev. Thomas Gordon Robey. Zion Methodist Chapel . Guernsey

[JeannieR]

Hi Everyone....

Can anyone give me ANY history , at all about this gentlemans ministry , on the island of Guernsey ?

He married in 1850 , at Liverpool , my great grandfathers sister , Ann Hughes ....They had one son , that I am aware of , also called Thomas Gordon Robey (1853 )

On the 1851 census , Thomas Gordon Robey , born C1820 , in Staffordshire , is a visitor , at King Street , Truro St Mary Cornwall , He states he was "Methodist New Connection " minister of Zion Chapel , Guernsey , as his occupation .....(mistranscribed as Rabey )

I have found that he was baptised at . Bethesda Chapel , Albion Street , NewConnexshe ? Shelton , Staffs on January 9th 1820 .

I cannot find him , or Ann , after 1851 , although their son resided with his Hughes grandparents until his untimely death , at the age of 22....

Any info at all , most welcome

Kind Regards
JeannieR

[MJP]

Hi JeannieR,

1861
RG9/2096/85/9
Malvern, Worcester
Tho G Robey, Boarder, Married, 41, Minister of the Gospel in the Methodist New Connection, b. Staffs Longton

Boarder in a large house (20 boarders plus maids/cook/housekeeper, no "Head" of household), address column says "Establishment".

No sign of Ann...what are her birth details (place/year)?

MJP

[JeannieR]

Hi MJP

And thankyou for your quick response !!

Anne was born at Liverpool , in 1829 .

I have just been "googling " , and I can't believe it ,but , someone has his name , on their tree (Huckin) It would appear that my Anne may have died , because he , Rev'd Thomas Gordon Robey , marries a lady by the name of Elizabeth Hannah Pratt , don't know where , or when though .

Thank you for the info , will have another shot at it....

Best wishes
JeannieR

[behindthefrogs]

FreeBMD gives

Marriages of Thomas Gordon Robey:

Liverpool 20 411 Jun 1850 Ann Hughes
Hay 11b 206 Sept 1855 Elizabeth Hannah Pratt

but the only death that I can find for an Ann Robey is:

Richmond  2a 129 Dec 1856.

Don't panic.  Even if it is right my bigamist who was also a church minister managed to hang on for fifty years with two wives.

David

[JeannieR]

Hi There.....

I was just going to "post" with an update !!

I , too have just found the second marriage ..... to Elizabeth , so it does look as if my Ann , died , perhaps giving birth to her son , Thomas , in 1853 ......this may be the reason why he was living with his grandparents , Richard and Sarah Hughes , on the 1861 and 1871 census....how sad .

Well , that is another mystery solved , thanks to Rootschat ....

Now , if only I could find out if my Grandfather Hardy , WAS a bigamist

On with the search

Many Thanks

JeannieR

[liverpool annie]

Hi Jeannie !!

Here's another piece of useless information .........  .... a bit of background !!

METHODIST NEW CONNECTION, a Protestant Nonconformist Church, formed in 1797 by secession from the Wesleyan Methodists, and merged in 1907 into the United Methodist Church. The secession. was led by Alexander Kilham, and resulted from a dispute regarding the position and rights of the laity, Kilham and his party desiring more power for the members of the Church and less for the ministers. In its conferences ministers and laymen were of equal number, the laymen being - chosen by the circuits and in some cases by guardian representatives elected for life by conference. Otherwise the doctrines and order of the Connection were the same as those of the Wesleyans. At the time of the union with the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Church in 1907 the Methodist New Connection had some 250 ministers and 45,000 members.

Alexander Kilham (July 20, 1762 - 1798), English Methodist, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire.

He was admitted by John Wesley in 1785 into the regular itinerant ministry. He became the leader and spokesman of the democratic party in the Connection which claimed for the laity the free election of class-leaders and stewards, and equal representation with ministers at Conference. They also contended that the ministry should possess no official authority or pastoral prerogative, but should merely carry into effect the decisions of majorities in the different meetings.

Kilham further advocated the complete separation of the Methodists from the Anglican Church. In the violent controversy that ensued he wrote many pamphlets, often anonymous, and frequently not in the best of taste. For this he was arraigned before the Conference of 1796 and expelled, and he then founded the Methodist New Connection (1798, merged since 1906 in the United Methodist Church).

He died in 1798, and the success of the church he founded is a tribute to his personality and to the principles for which he strove. Kilham's wife (Hannah Spurr, 1774-1832), whom he married only a few months before his death, became a Quaker, and worked as a missionary in the Gambia and at Sierra Leone; she reduced to writing several West African vernaculars.

And just as an aside .... William Booth (Salvation Army ) was a ordained Methodist New Connection minister !

Aren't you glad I gave you another piece of paper to file ?!! 

Annie