Prophet John Wroe: Virgins, Scandals and Visions

Prophet John Wroe (1782-1863), found fame through his many predictions, his preaching and the establishment of the Christian Israelite Church in the early 1820s. Under Wroe the Christian Israelites were surrounded by scandal and controversy. The best known of these is when Wroe publicly announced that he had received orders from heaven that seven virgins should be delivered to him to 'comfort and cherish him'. As might be expected, the girls did not remain virgins for long. Everywhere Wroe went scandal followed, whether financial or sexual, with extravagant building projects, including his own mansion, Melbourne House near Wakefield, forcing many of the sect's members into the workhouse. Edward Green is the first person to research Wroe's life and career in depth and to place him in the context of an industrialised society struggling to find values and needing to believe in themselves as the Chosen People. Using the original testimonies of many of those involved in the scandals surrounding Wroe his book is a celebration of a rich, if eccentric, tradition where religion, sex, politics and money struggle for possession of the nation's soul.