John Vesey Parnell, 2nd Baron Congleton (16 June 1805 – 23 October 1883) was an aristocrat and Christian missionary.

Life

Parnell was the son of Sir

Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (3 July 1776 – 8 June 1842), known as Sir Henry Parnell, Bt, from 1812 to 1841, was an Irish writer and Whig (British political faction), Whig politician. He was a m ...

(1776–1842) and Lady Caroline Elizabeth Dawson-Damer (d. 1861), a daughter of

John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

. He was educated in France, then at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, Scotland. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Congleton, of

Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, on 8 June 1842. He succeeded to the title of 5th Baronet Parnell, of Rathleague, Queen's County on 8 June 1842. He was related to the Irish patriot

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

. Parnell's life was marked by simplicity: when he lived in

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

, Devon he took a modest house for the annual rent of £12.00. His uncarpeted home was furnished with simple wooden chairs, a plain, unvarnished deal table, steel cutlery and pewter teaspoons, and generosity: he was accustomed to devoting half his income to Christian works.Chief Men Among the Brethren, p. 3, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, First US Printing March 1986, Among his friends he counted George Muller, the well-known Brethren philanthropist of Bristol. Baron Congleton died early in the morning of 23 October 1883 on a simple portable iron bedstead. Among his last utterances was reputed to be the words of the

Christian martyr In Christianity, a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake, or ...

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit".

Plymouth Brethren and mission work

Parnell first met with other like-minded Christians in 1829 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, including

John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern ...

, Edward Cronin and Francis Hutchinson. He paid for the rent of a large auction room in

Aungier Street Aungier Street () is a street on the south side of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It runs north-south as a continuation of South Great George's Street. It is the location of both a Technological University Dublin and a Dublin Business Sc ...

for the use in communion and

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

on the

Lord's day In Christianity, the Lord's Day refers to Sunday, the traditional day of communal worship. It is the first day of the week in the Hebrew calendar and traditional Christian calendars. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the ...

(Sunday). He thought that the Lord's table should be a public witness of the Brethren's position. Aungier Street was the first public meeting room for the movement that became known as

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglica ...

and they commenced celebrating Lord's supper (the Breaking of Bread) in the spring of 1830. When he moved to London he lived at Welbeck Street, London, where the brethren meeting room was located. He was a lifelong member of the Plymouth Brethren, and was one of their pioneer missionaries. Parnell went in September 1830 to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in the Ottoman Empire with his brother-in-law Edward Cronin and John Kitto to visit Anthony Norris Groves. The party went with books, medicine and a printing press and arrived in June 1831. The whole party found extreme resistance from local

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

to their efforts and withdrew to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

until 1837 when Groves established an enduring faith mission work. When Lord Congleton became the 2nd Baron, being a Plymouth Brother, he would not side with any party and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a cross-bencher. Plymouth Brethren generally abstain from party politics. He published his translation of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

at William Yapp's publishing house of 70 Welbeck Street, London in 1860, with a revision in 1875 containing interpretative notes published by James E. Hawkins of the same address. Congleton also published a booklet ''The Open Meeting'' describing the manner of ministry among Plymouth Brethren. The Auckland suburb of Parnell is named after him.

Family

His first marriage was to Nancy Cronin, sisterChief Men Among the Brethren, p. 16, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, First US Printing March 1986, of the homeopathist Edward Cronin, in 1831 at Aleppo where she died in 1832 before reaching Bagdad. An

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

widow, living in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, madame Khatoon Moscow, daughter of Ovauness Moscow, became his second wife in 1833. His third marriage was to Margaret Catherine Ormerod, daughter of Charles Ormerod, on 21 February 1867; with her Parnell had his only daughter, Sarah Cecilia (5 August 1868 – 26 April 1912).

Notes

References

* ''Chief Men among the Brethren'', by Hy Pickering * The archive at Chapter Two, Fountain House, Conduit Mews, London SE18
Home page - Chapter Two Online Shop
* *"The New American Cyclopaedia", p. 409. * "Memoir of Lord Congleton" by Henry Groves, 1884 {{DEFAULTSORT:Congleton, Parnell, John Vesey, 2nd Baron 1805 births 1883 deaths 19th-century evangelicals Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British expatriates in France British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire British people in colonial India British Plymouth Brethren