Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/391

 n s. m. MAY 20, i9iL] NOTES AND QUERIES.

385

ROEITES OF CALVERTON: WROEITES OF AUSTRALIA.

SINCE the last reply on the Roeites appeared (ante, p. 272), a correspondent has privately drawn my attention to an inter- esting note on the " Wroeites," published in 'N. & Q.' in 1864 (3 S. v. 493). But although the name of the sect (with the exception of the initial letter) is the same in both cases, as also, apparently, the vulgar character of their tenets and teachings, no actual link is afforded by the note of 1864 sufficient to warrant assumption of identity in the absence of additional evidence.

In this communication MB. D. BLAIB of Melbourne refers to the death of the founder of this extraordinary sect John Wroe at Collingwood, Melbourne, on 5 February, 1863, at the age of 81, after following the trade of prophet for more than forty years.

" He founded a sect which numbered adherents in all parts of the world ; ari*d which held, as its cardinal article of faith, the divine inspiration and absolute authority of its founder. His followers here in Melbourne looked confidently for his resurrection, but they have probably abandoned that hope now. The sect called themselves ' Christian Israelites,' but were popu- larly known (from wearing the hair uncut and unshaven) as ' Beardies.' They were zealous and incessant street-preachers of an incoherent and unintelligible doctrine, apparently com- pounded of Judaism, Christianity, and the prin- ciples of the Adamites of Munster," &c.

In 1787 the writer of an illiterate letter in a Nottingham newspaper, referring to the Roeites of Calverton, says :

"Their religion is an heap of inconstancies, pro miscuously jumbled together, and their preaching an invariable compound of railing, absurdity, Billingsgate, and blackguardness."

The title-page of the historical manual of the Wroeites is thus quoted :

" The Life and Journal of John Wroe, with Divine Communications to him : being the Visita- tion of the Spirit of God, to warn Mankind that tlu- Day of the Lord is at hand, &c. 2 Vols. (iravesend : Printed for the Trustees of the Society by W. Deane. 1859."

MR. BLAIR continues :

" A more extraordinary book there is not to e found, even in that very peculiar department E literature, the records of religious imposture and delusion. It has always seemed to me ^t:,mge that no mention of these ' Wroeites,' so far as I have noticed, has emerged in con- temporary journalism; although the sect was -'tn.ng enough to have its own prophet, its own liturgy, code of laws, church constitution, and special literature. It has survived the death of s founder ; but seems, from all I can learn, to be now dying out. This is an additional reason for leaving some mention of it on the pages of Contemporary history."

Upon the whole, there seems to be such; a family likeness between the Roeites of Calverton and the Wroeites of Australia that there is strong presumption of connexion, which I should be glad to find proved. John Roe founded the former sect about 1780, when he was 44 years of age, and I believe he lived to be at least an octogenarian. Con- sequently, it might be that the Australian prophet was a son or grandson, particularly as longevity is frequently hereditary. Per- haps the literature of the antipodean sect contains evidence of the possible connexion. At Calverton the now secularized chapel and graveyard remain, though I cannot say what has become of the registers, &c.

A. STAPLETO:S\ 30, Burford Road, Nottingham.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. In view of the interest displayed of late in the frescoes and statues of the Royal Exchange, the following from The City Press of 29 April should be worthy of record :

" The condition of the pictures in the Royal Exchange has been recently the subject "of inquiry. All the artists have been consulted,, together with a number of other experts. As a result of the examination it has been ascertained that the pictures are in a good state of preserva- tion. The experts recommend that the pictures should remain as they are, and be neither glazed nor varnished. At the same time they suggest that frequent close examination should be made, and. that any cleaning or repairing necessary shall be entrusted to an entirely different expert.

At the moment experiments are in course of

arrangement concerning the better lighting of the ambulatory. . . .It has been decided, in addition, to subject the Exchange to a thorough clean, to give all necessary attention to the statues, and to do such other work as is required .... A contract is to be arranged under which the statues will be cleaned periodically and the whole interior examined every two years, or more frequently if necessary."

Let us hope a much- needed guide-book to the now rapidly filling picture gallery will also some day be available to a public which seems, at length, to have become appreciative of the artistic attractions of the Exchange. CECIL CLARKE.

Junior Athenaeum Club.

FARESTGTON OF WORDEN. Down to 1900, in Burke' s ' Landed Gentry ' the Faringtons of Woodvale who in 1894 succeeded to Worden were said to be descended from the Rev. William Farington or Ffarington, Rector of Leigh and Warrington (died 1767). But in the 1906 edition, p. 586, the whole of William's, hildren are attributed to his younger brother Henry, who in older pedigrees is described