William O’Bryan (6 February 1778 – 8 January 1868) was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

preacher and founder of the

Bible Christian The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbea ...

movement.

Life

O'Bryan was born William Bryant at Gunwen farm,

Luxulyan Luxulyan (; kw, Logsulyan), also spelt Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles (6.5 km) northeast of St Austell and six miles (10 km) south of Bodmin. ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

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 Kilkhampton ( kw, Kylgh) is a village and civil parish in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is on the A39 about four miles (6 km) north-northeast of Bude. Kilkhampton was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Chilc ...

to Badash Farm, Launceston, Cornwall, where the Bible Christians held their first two conferences. The farm is now a listed buildingBadash Farmhouse
BritishListedBuildings, Retrieved 5 February 2017 for its unusually well preserved set of 18th-century buildings set amidst open farmland. The first Bible Christian chapel was built in

Shebbear, Devon Shebbear (; ) is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district in Devon, England. It was once itself centre of the Shebbear hundred. In 2001 the parish had a population of 858. An electoral ward exists titled ''Shebbear'' and Langtree. The ...

in 1817. His movement spread mainly through North

, including

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Corn ...

and

Launcells Launcells ( kw, Lannseles) is a hamlet and civil parish in north-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located east of Bude. Within the civil parish are the hamlets of Launcells Cross, Red Post, Grimscott, and Buttsbear Cross. In 20 ...

. O'Bryan left the group in 1832 after a dispute over church administration, and became an itinerant preacher in the US, 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.

Family

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

References

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. 88–92

External links

The Methodist archives biographical index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obryan, William 1778 births 1868 deaths People from Luxulyan British Methodists Cornish Methodists