Melbourn Evans Aubrey CH (1885–1957) was a Welsh Baptist minister and ecumenist. He was General Secretary of the

Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland Baptists Together (officially The Baptist Union of Great Britain) is a Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didcot. H ...

for 26 years from 1925 until 1950. Between 1936 and 1938 he was Moderator of the Federal Council of Free Churches and presented the Loyal Address on behalf of the Free Churches to H.M.

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

in 1937.

Life

Aubrey was the son of Edwin Aubrey, a Baptist minister, in the Rhondda. He was asked by his son to write an account of his life but only three sentences were ever completed: "Your father was born in a public house and I have no need to apologise for it. For one thing it wasn't my fault. For another, it was a very good sin." Aubrey was educated at

Taunton School Taunton School is a co-educational independent school in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster is Lee Glaser, appointed in the aut ...

, followed by Cardiff Baptist College and then as a Scholar at Mansfield College, Oxford. His first ministry was as assistant minister at Victoria Road Baptist Church Leicester prior to St Andrews Street Baptist Church Cambridge where he resided for twelve years. From Cambridge he was called to the post of General Secretary of the Baptist Union in 1925. Prior to the Second World War he led a campaign to raise £1m for the "Church Extension Scheme." During the war he was also Chairman of the United Navy, Army and Air Force Board of Chaplains, in which capacity he made a long visit to the Mediterranean theatre of war. After war ended he was a member of the first church delegation to visit Germany in 1946 and became Chairman of the Committee of Churches for Christian Reconstruction of Europe. He was a member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (1948–54) and Vice-Chairman of the

British Council of Churches Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in Ce ...

(1948–50). In 1947 Aubrey was invited to join the

Royal Commission on the Press Three Royal Commissions on the Press were held in the United Kingdom during the 20th century. The first (1947–49) proposed the creation of a General Council of the Press to govern behaviour, promote consumer interests and conduct research into t ...

.Royal Commission on the Press (page iii) 1947-1949, June 1949, HMSO

Notes

References

*Times Obituary 19 Oct 1957 *The Baptist Times 24 Oct 1957 ;Biographical information *West Dr W M S (1990), "The Young Mr Aubrey": The Baptist Quarterly Volume XXXIII No 8 October 1990, Journal of the Baptist Historical Society. *West Dr W M S (1992), "The Reverend Secretary Aubrey" Parts 1,2: The Baptist Quarterly Volume XXXIV Nos 5,6 Jan, April 1992, Journal of the Baptist Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubrey, Melbourn 1885 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Welsh Baptist ministers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour