Robert Carr Brackenbury

Robert Carr Brackenbury (1752 – 11 August 1818) was an English Methodist preacher. His biographer, Terence R. Leach, describes him as a ‘poet, practitioner, philanthropist and mystic’.

Methodism Robert Carr Brackenbury was the son of Carr Brackenbury of Panton, Lincolnshire, where he was baptised on 28 April 1752. He was educated at Felsted School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

His chosen career as a Methodist preacher was ‘far removed from what might be expected of a wealthy 18th century Lincolnshire squire’.

In 1791, Brackenbury had just lost his friend and mentor Charles Wesley (John Wesley's brother). He decided to leave Southampton, and take the first coach that drew up. By complete chance Brackenbury ended up in Weymouth, where he was told of the Isle of Portland's darkness and immorality, although in reality conventional crime was rare on the island, and it was probably the unusual marriage and sexual customs that concerned those on the mainland. Within the space of a year Brackenbury and his friend George Smith had a large Methodist following on the island. In 1792 he had a large chapel built in the village of Fortuneswell, including the minister's house, entirely at his own expense. Brackenbury himself continued to stay on Portland for long periods, and in 1792 he rented a thatched cottage at Wakeham for meetings, and there the first Tophill Sunday Schools were held. Upon his death in 1818, his wife continued his work on the island. The 1792 chapel was later replaced with the Underhill Methodist Church, also known as Brackenbury Memorial Church.

Robert remarried in 1795 to Sarah Holland, also a dedicated Methodist. Sarah was very much Robert's junior, and survived him by almost 20 years. Records indicate that Sarah continued her husband's ministry after his death; the 1841 census lists her occupation, as ‘Cure of Souls Without Clerk In Holy Orders’. Despite two marriages, Robert Carr Brackenbury died without any children. Upon the death of his second wife, Sarah, his estate was sold, in an impoverished state, to the Reverend Edward Rawnsley (1816–1905).

Death

Robert died in 1818 and is buried in Raithby Church.

Legacy

Unfortunately few records survive of the life of Robert Brackenbury; his modesty demanded that all letters and papers be destroyed after his death.