Billy Bray
William Trewartha Bray (1 June 1794 – 25 May 1868) was a Cornish preacher born at Twelveheads, a village in the parish of Kea, near Truro, Cornwall, England.
His grandfather and father were pious Methodists, but his father died when his children were young. In early adulthood, Billy Bray was a drunkard but was converted through reading George Larkin's Visions of Heaven; and Visions of Hell. He then became attached to a group of Methodists known as the Bible Christians and became a well-known but unconventional preacher.[1] Baldhu parish church is the burial place of Billy Bray.
F. W. Bourne's biography A King's Son went through many editions for well over 100 years, under several titles.
Bray's life is celebrated by the Devon folk songwriter Seth Lakeman in the song "Preachers Ghost" on his 2010 album Hearts and Minds.
[edit] References
- ^ Sheila Bird Heroes of Cornwall 2004
[edit] Bibliography
- Billy Bray in His Own Words, by Chris Wright is a 2004 book based on the previously unpublished journal of Bray, in his own handwriting, that had lain undeciphered since the nineteenth century. (Published by Highland Books, ISBN 1-897913-73-7).
- William James makes reference to Bray in his The Varieties of Religious Experience published in 1902.
- Annie Dillard makes reference to Bray in the very last sentence of her 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
[edit] External links
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