Although a native of Bradford, John Wroe spent much of his long life in Wakefield, living in various parts of the district including Kirkgate, Westgate, Sandal, St Johns and Wrenthorpe, where he built his opulent mansion in 1856-7. The mansion is called Melbourne House because it was designed to resemble the old Town Hall at Melbourne Australia, where Wroe had a strong following. Melbourne House was formally opened at day break on Whit Sunday 1857, in the presence of approximately 250 of Wroe’s followers from all over the English speaking world.

John Wroe had shot to public prominence during the 1820s, when he began to experience visions following a long illness and was convinced he was receiving communications that were of divine origin. In 1822 he founded the Society of Christian Israelites, consisting of several congregations of people who had been followers of the famous Exeter prophetess, Joanna Southcott.

The Christian Israelites believed that the South Lancashire industrial town of Ashton-under-Lyne would be the New Jerusalem, where the 144,000 elect would gather at the Apocalypse. To this purpose they set about constructing four substantial properties which were to be the gatehouses to the Holy City. Their extravagant sanctuary at Ashton opened on Christmas Day 1825 and cost in excess of £9,000.

Wroe’s success at Ashton lasted until the autumn of 1830, when he was tried before a jury of Christian Israelites after various allegations about his relationship with seven virgins came to light. By the spring of the following year the papers were full of these stories and Wroe had to flee Ashton following a major disturbance at the Sanctuary. He returned to Bradford, but this provoked a riot, so instead Wroe settled in Wakefield, the town where he had been living for some of the previous year.

At Wakefield Wroe established the Christian Israelites’ printing press in Thompson’s Yard off Westgate, from which Christian Israelite literature was sent all over the world, especially to America and Australia. By 1837 he had moved to Wrenthorpe, where he lived at Brandy Carr House, Jerry Clay Lane. It was during his time there that a disturbing burglary took place at his home, resulting in the transportation of three innocent men.

Following the completion of Melbourne House in 1857, Wroe lived on in his mansion for over five years. In 1860 he was troubled by ‘Judge’ Daniel Milton, an American who had been thrown out of the Society of Christian Israelites in New York for challenging Wroe’s leadership and claiming the rightful ownership of Melbourne House. For much of the 40 years following Wroe’s death Milton lived in Wrenthorpe in poverty, spending whatever money he could find on printing religious propaganda and making voyages back to America to reassert his claims.

In the summer of 1862 Wroe left Melbourne House for what was to be the final time, on a voyage to Australia – his fifth visit to that country. ‘Prophet’ Wroe died at the Christian Israelites Sanctuary in Fitzroy, Melbourne in February of the following year. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Melbourne General Cemetery. It was many years before his followers would admit his demise. His room at Melbourne House was kept ready in expectation of his resurrection.

(Thanks to Edward Green for providing this information about John Wroe. More can be found on his website - www.johnwroe.com)

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The Christian Israelite Church formed by Wroe still exists today, predominantly in Australia. It has created a website regarding the historical aspects of the Church and its founder, John Wroe - the Christian Israelite Church History can be found at www.cichurchhistory.com