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W.M.S. West, "The Young Mr Aubrey," Baptist Quarterly 33.7 (July 1990): 351-363.

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
Three Baptist Union Secretaries spanned virtually the first seventy years of thiscentury: John Howard Shakespeare from 1898-1924, Melbourn Evans Aubrey from
1925-1951, and Ernest Alexander Payne from 1951-1967. Shakespeare expressly
forbade any biography being written of him - though certain articles have appearedin print which reveal the calibre of the man. Ernest Payne left behind no such vetoand, as some of you may know, an account of his'life has been published. l But of
Melbourn Evans Aubrey there exists, apart from obituary notices, so far as I know,
scarcely a word. This is not entirely surprising. Throughout the years of his office,he was somewhat overshadowed by the recollection of his predecessor. J. H.
Shakespeare was a superbly gifted man, deeply committed to Baptist leadership andto church relations, who had the misfortune - if misfortune it be - to have been bornan ecumenical Baptist at least a generation before his time. Aubrey lived only six
years after his retirement. His successor, Ernest Payne, was an ecclesiastical leaderof considerable stature, whose influence can be gauged by the' remarkable attendanceat his memorial service in Westminster Abbey.2 This lecture is a preliininary attempt
to call Aubrey out of the shadows into'the light of Baptist history w.here deservedly
he belongs. Not simply Aubrey as a potential leader, but Aubrey as a warm, engaging
man who was called constantly by others into a limelight which he would preferably
have shunned.
I

When Aubrey retired, his son Peter suggested that his father should set down for his
family some accoul\t of his life. Aubrey apparently agreed. After his death, theexercise book containing the memoir was discovered. It begins thus:Your father was born in a public house and I have no need toapologize for it. For one thing it wasn't my fauit. For another, it
was a very good sin. 3 ,These are as good an opening three sentences as will be found in any journal.
Unfortunately for the historian, they are also the last three sentences! He wrote no
more, the rest is silence - just blank pages. 4 When one compares M. E. Aubrey's
three sentence memoir with the nearly twenty exercise books left by Ernest Payne,
the problem of research on the former is clearly revealed. But it illustrates one aspectof his personality, namely, that Aubrey was a very private man who was required byhis vocation and circumstances, particularly as Secretary of the Baptist Union, to live,
an immensely public life. I do not think that he loved every minute of it.
Aubrey's father, Edwin Aubrey, was a Baptist minister born in Wales andtrained at Haverfordwest. 5 MelbournEvans Aubrey was born on 21st April 1885
during his father's ministry at Zion, Pentre. Unfortunately the birth certificate isvery vague about the exact location of the birth. His father is recorded as living at
Ton Ystradyfodwg, but of the name of Aubrey's natal public house there is no clue!
But it is a search which I intend, not surprisingly, to pursue! ,Aubrey was given thename Evans as the maiden name of his mother. He was called Melbourn because, so
the Aubrey family tradition has it, Edwin Aubrey was a great admirer of Lord
Melbourne. Unfortunately the registrar spelt the name incorrectly - hence Melbourn.
M. E. Aubrey was the first child of a family which was to grow to six, two othersons and three daughters, By 1888 Edwin Aubrey was ministering at Commercial
Road, Abercarn, and in 1895 he moved to North Frederick Street, Glasgow. There
his eldest son, at the age of about eleven, contracted polio which resulted in apermanent disability in his left leg, necessitating the wearing of a special surgical351

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY
boot. During his long illness the young Melbourn was encouraged by his parents toread and he became, throughout his life, a voracious reader. Initially the Bible was
his required priority, with the result that his biblical knowledge was remarkable andhis ability to quote verses - and longer passages - became a great asset in his
subsequent outstanding preaching ministry.
By 1899, Edwin Aubrey was back in Wales, at Morlais, Merthyr, and M. E.
Aubrey, showing considerable academic promise, was sent as a boarder to Taunton
School. This school was the successor to the old Independent College and was in theprocess of becoming reorganized with the support, financial and otherwise, of Baptist
and Congregationallaymen. 6 The newly appointed headmaster was a Baptist, Or C.
D. Whittaker, who was successful in restoring the school's Free Church tradition.
Whittaker soon saw that M. E. Aubrey was a pupil of the highest potential. He wasproved right. Aubrey's list of prizes are startling in their number and diversity.7 In1902 he won a special matriculation prize, a prize each for drawing, reading,shorthand and science. He matriculated in the same year with the Cambridge Senior
Certificate and gained the South Kensington Certificate in Science, Art andTheoretical Chemistry. By 1904 he had won further prizes in Science, Mathematics,
Essay Writing, Good Conduct - and had passed the University of London
examination in Science, together with the London Chamber of Commerce Certificate
with distinction. In addition, he had become a prefect and headboy of the school.
He was keenly interested in sport and deeply regretted his limited physical ability.
He became scorer for the 1st XI and an able swimmer. When Aubrey died in 1957,
the School Magazine carried an obituary notice written by a contemporary of his
schooldays. The writer describes him 'as one of the most brilliant scholars to havepassed through Taunton School'. He goes on: 'At no time had Aubrey a "highbrow"
disposition, he was a friend of all and willing to help those in trouble with theirwork.'8
Most significantly, Whittaker discovered that Aubrey had thoughts about theministry. He encouraged him to try his hand at preaching, arranging for him to takethe services at a small village chapel - regrettably we do not know where exactly.
Oral tradition in the Aubrey family has it that, as the Captain of the School stood up
to announce the first hymn, the door of the chapel opened to admit all the schoolprefects, whose presence more than doubled the congregation, if not the offering!
It was the first of very many challenging public occasions which Aubrey was to face.
By all accounts, he was soon recognized as having all the gifts for ministry amongst
Baptists. The school records note in the summer of 1904 that 'M. E. Aubrey is to beheartily congratulated on obtaining an entrance into the Baptist College in Cardiff,and, at the same time, in winning a Glamorgan County Free Scholarship andStudentship.'9.
He was at Cardiff for four years, during which he read for a philosophy degree
through the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, along with his
Baptist College tasks. Not content with the academic responsibilities, he became
deeply involved in the student life of the University College. In his final year he was
President of the Students' Representative Council, where he was clearly influential.
The student magazine Cap and Gown has a contributed letter signed 'The Official
Panegyrist', in which the writer links suitable quotations from English Literature witheach student office holder. For Mr M. E. Aubrey, B.A., the quotation is attributed
to William Cowper, 'I am monarch of all I survey'.lO We may note that it goes on,'My right there is none to dispute'. Whilst the quotation may have been apt for
Aubrey in Cardiff days, in the subsequent Church House days, whilst it perhaps
should have at least apRrc;>ached the truth, the experience of J. H. Shakespeare's
unrestrained leadership 1 ensured that strong Baptist restraining arms were all too
352

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
often hampering his successor's plans. But at Cardiff, Aubrey clearly enjoyedhimself and found early opportunity to display and develop his many talents. At theend of his student days, an anonymous writer in Cap and Gown includes these words
in a tribute:
We have his mother's authority to testify to the flow of language
and oratorical pleading which were features even of his earlier days
- even though his quest was limited then to a piece of barleysugar ... He has served the University College for four years andhe is its most popular student and president into the bargain. His
lady friends (we believe there is just one fresher whom he doesn't
know very well) must testify to his. beauty; the professors must
testify to his industry; we can testify to the charms of his company
and his good fellqwship. Friends enquiring for him should look
. first in the Principal's room and secondly in the Dutch Cafe. If he
is found in neither of those two places, we regret to say that Mr
Aubrey is at home with influenza.'12
11

In 1908, in company with a Rawdon student named Arthur Dakin, Aubrey sat for the
Baptist Union Scholarship. IS Both men received an award. Dakin left for Halle andHeidelburg; Aubrey, after abortive correspondence with Union Theological Seminary
in New York, went to Mansfield College, Oxford. He did not settle easily at Oxford.
Intellectually he could cope, but the Oxford of the years just prior to the First World
War was in stark contrast to the more relaxed, less sophisticated life of the University
College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. Aubrey was twenty-three; he had beena leader in Cardiff and probably above average in intellectual ability. Oxford was avery different place. The big fish of the smaller Cardiff pond, understandably,found it difficult to adjust to becoming a much smaller fish in the much larger
Oxford lake. His closest friend at Mansfield was a young Congregational student,
Charles Harold Dodd. Aubrey kept relatively few letters, but he kept many of
Dodd's. Reading between the lines of some of these letters enables us to discern
Aubrey's unease about Oxford. Just after he left Mansfield, in 1911, Aubrey wrote
to Dodd apparently setting out his feelings about Oxford in general and Mansfield inparticular. Aubrey's letter is not extant, but Dodd's reply, dated 1st July 1911, has
survived. It runs as follows:
My dear Aubrey,
It is a sad letter you wrote me on Thursday. I was ~raid you
were unhappy about something. I am fearfully sorry th t you arefeeling like that about Mansfield. I have felt sorry, certa ~Iy, thatyou didn't seem to enter into things a bit more. I ought to haverealized it was our fault. I hardly imagined before how very
strangely our Oxford atmosphere must strike anyone who comes
into it with an experience matured elsewhere ...
[Dodd goes on to express what he owed personally to Aubrey's
friendship and conversation. Then the letter continues:]
I am a reticent sort of person I know - deeply tarred withthat Oxford 'artificiality' - but I don't - and I shall not forget your353

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY
sympathy and kindness ... it made me very happy, and humble,
toO.I4In the event Aubrey was awarded a third class Honours Degree in the Oxford
School of Theology, a result which probably reflects his dis-ease with Oxford andMansfield.
By the time he left Oxford, in the middle of June 1911, Aubrey had received
a call from Victoria Road, Leicester, to become associated with the Revd P. T.
Thomson in the ministry there. This was not the first approach he had had from achurch. As early as December 1906, he had had a preliminary enquiry about his
future plans from a Welsh church. IS Early in 1911 he was approached by Alperton.
This was five years before the appointment of Superintendents and so Aubrey wrote
to J. H. Shakespeare asking for information and advice. Shakespeare replied that hehad not seen Alperton, but that he understood it to be a growing neighbourhood withsome cultivated people connected with the church! The letter then went on:'However I have now written to an influential member of the church at Cotham
Grove, Bristol, and I have also seen the secretary of the church at Hammersmith.'16
The result was that the secretary of West End, Hammersmith, wrote to Principal
Selbie of Mansfield, asking if Aubrey could give them a Sunday, adding that theusual fee was £3-3s-0d.11 Whilst nothing came of these contacts, Archway Road,
Highgate, was very keen that Aubreyshould go there. Indeed, Archway called him
contemporaneously with Victoria Road, Leicester. 18 Aubrey chose Leicester. He wasordained there on the evening of Wednesday, 27th September 1911, with J. H.
Shakespeare preaching and ordaining, W. B. Selbie of Mansfield College sharing theordination, and C. H. Dodd present as a student representative and friend.
During Aubrey's final year in Oxford, Edwin Aubrey had been involved in the
preparation of yet another move, this time to a pastorate i~ America. With his father
to the States went Aubrey's two brothers and three sisters, all of whom settled there
permanently, leaving him alone in the United Kingdom.
The time at Leicester was pleasurable. Thomson and Aubrey related welltogether. Victoria Road was an exciting and forward-looking church. The
fellowship was warm and welcoming. In November 1911, he wrote to Allen Gaunt
at Mansfield, clearly extolling the joys of ministry. Gaunt replied:Your vigorous letter was most welcome - like a communicationfrom the outside to our garden enclosed by Academe ... You
touched a sympathetic chord when you asked me if I wouldn't
rather be out in the thick of it. 19.
C. H. Dodd was also stilI at Oxford, helping at Mansfield whilst seeking asettlement which was long in coming. Aubrey wrote to him frequently and on 9th
January 1912 Dodd replied:.
I was delighted to hear such cheery news of your work. I hopethings are continuing to hum. How many people have you visitedby now? I expect it must be running into five figures!
Dodd goes on ruefully, 'I am still a preacher errant. Nineteen churches have I
wooed, but to none am I wedded.'2o That was soon to alter, for on 8th February 1912
Dodd wrote to A ubrey, telling him that he had accepted a call to Warwick,- asking
him to come to his recognition service and expressing pleasure at reasonableproximity. The letter ends delightfully and happily:
354

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
Garvie is dining here to-night and is going to read a paper on "themetaphysics of the General 'Councils with especial reference to
Nestorius!" - Don't you wish you were here!! Love C.H.D. 2l
The joy of the year 1912 was increased still further in June when Aubrey wasmarried at Victoria Road, Leicester, to Edith Mary Moore of Watford. She was an
Anglican by upbringing, but no information, written ,or oral, have I been able todisco_ver as to how or where they met. The marriage was to prove very happy andthe letters M. E. Aubrey wrote to his wife more than forty years later show how
lasting and ever-deepening their happiness was. 22
III

But the calm delight of the Leicester ministry was all too shortlived. In the latesummer of 1912, St Andrew's Street, Cambridge, began, to use Dodd's words, to woo
Aubrey. At the beginning of August he received a letter from Mr Sturton, Senior
Deacon at Cambridge, asking whether a previously arranged visit to St Andrew's
Street, planned for 8th September, could possibly be considered as with a view to thepastorate. On 12th August, Aubrey wrote a letter in reply, of which he kept a copyan all too rare occurrence. He points out that he has been scarcely a year in
Leicester, yet already there is a bond of affection binding him to the church, so that
his disinclination to leave Leicester amounts almost to a determination. But he does
not close the door totally. ,As Aubrey admits, the reply is indefinite andunsatisfactory.23 Sturton replies on 17th August, indicating that they will wait andsee, and acknow:ledges the difficult question posed to Aubrey. Sturton also confesses
that two deacons from St Andrew's Street had been at Leicester the previous Sunday- and had been discovered! 'As they were leaving your church,' wrote Sturton, 'they
overheard the remark that St Andrew's Street are here to-day!,24 Aubrey preachedat Cambridge on 8th September and, thanks to T. R. Glover's diaries, we can follow
events closely.25 Aubrex's texts are recorded by Glover as: 'In the morning, Isaiah
32:12 'Man as a shadow of rock' - a thoughtful sermon. In the evening, Paul to theEphesian elders - sense and no ear tickling'. On the Sunday afternoon Glover spentsome time with Mr and Mrs' Aubreyin the garden of a fellow deacon,
A. C. Mansfield. From this day forward T. R. Glover became growingly influential
in the Aubrey story. A church meeting had been called for the following Wednesday,
11th September. Glover was away at his holiday house in Sheringham., but,he wrote
a letter on the Tuesday to J. C. Sturton to be read at the meeting. Glover admits
that he re-wrote part of it after a talk with Selbie, 'who reassured me on Aubr:ey's
extraordinary maturity'. He was, of course, just twenty-seven. By some remarkablepostal feat, Glover heard from Sturton on 12th September that, 'he never saw ameeting more unanimous and enthusiastic than last night in calling Aubrey'. On thesame day Glover wrote an eight-page letter to Aubrey.26 There was good reason soto do. Seemingly Sturton and Aubrey had come toa tacit agreement that any positive
outcome of the 11 th September church meeting should not go beyond an invitation
to preach for a second time. On 12th September, Sturton also wrote to Aubrey,saying that whatever understanding they [i.e. Aubrey and himself] may have reachedabout procedure, 'We overlooked I had eight brother deacons to handle - their
enthusiasm was so great and what they had gathered about the feeling of manychurch members made them united for going ahead [i.e. with an invitation] ... I feel
you to be too good and great a man to allow this unexpected procedure to prejudice
the main question in any way. ,27355

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY
Glover's eight pages produced a formidable and urgent argument that Aubrey
was the man, relatively young though he was, for Cambridge. Here are, in Glover's
own words, the reasons why Aubrey should move:
St Andrew's Street is a place unique in the denomination, and it is
at a crisis in its history. The leading men realize with vigour thata change must be made now and that we must do something to help
all the other churches in the country who send young men andwomen to Cambridge. This church has been a great source ofleakage and weakness in the Baptist denomination. I have known
it off and on for 24 years. Now just at this moment you preach you appeal - and you unite a church of peculiarly disparate
elements, and it gives you a warm and urgent call to a great pieceof work. .. I agree with Dr Selbie that a man should not movequickly - I quite agree with him. If it were any other church, you
might well stay where you are. But you can do what is needed in
Cambridge and Cambridge calls you. Other men might whom it
would not call and it might call others who could not. In your casethe two things meet ... I expect you wish in a way that we had
left you alone. I find this in Jeremiah and other prophetic records.
A call is an upset very often. 28
Not only did Glover write. On 15th September, Sturton wrote with a formalcall, emphasizing that, 'I have never known the church so united before.' He goes on
to say that the strength of -the invitation cannot be expressed adequately in a letterand asks if he and one or two others can visit Aubrey in Leicester as bearers of theinvitation. 29 On Wednesday, 18th September, Sturton, John Bird, A. C. Mansfield
and T. R. Glover travelled to Leicester. Glover's diary records. for that date: 'To
Leicester - a jolly journey - and lunch at the station. Walked up over Park (once a
race course) to Aubrey's house - and had a long "sederunt" with him and his wife
putting case of St Andrew's Street. They showed well - she very sensible - and quiet- making one hope still for their coming. Back with Mansfield and Bird - neither
thinking now we shall get him.' Further persuaders joined in to bring pressure on
the young Melbourn Aubrey. J. H. Shakespeare wrote a personal note from ArundelHouse where he was recuperating from illness. He sets out six reasons why Aubrey
should go - and adds a personal plea, 'I hope you will go. My Geoffrey [later Sir
Geoffrey] is going to Emmanuel. There are many fathers like myself who will
rejoice if you gO.'30 On the same day W. Y. Fullerton, Secretary of the Baptist
Missionary Society, wrote a letter, as from Furnival Street though headed: 'Written
in a train' (and it looks as if it was!). Fullerton writes that he has heard from
Cambridge friends of the call and 'that they are going to press you hard. I do not
wonder - and they have such a strong case that you will find it very difficult toresist them.'31 Aubrey had no-one to whom to turn - in those days not even an Area
Superintendent! So he wrote to Charles Dodd in Warwick. Dodd replied with aletter, the first sentence of which spoke more truly of Aubrey's whole life than Dodd
could possibly have guessed.
Dear Aubrey,
You have a genius for getting into perplexing crossways - penalty ofgreatness of course! . .. I really feel it is a case that is quite beyond me. I
have prayed - and will pray, that you may have clear guidance. .. to have356

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
a man like Reaveley Glover at one's side would be a privilege beyond allwords - my admiration for him is unbounded - almost. 32
Selbie joined in the chorus of persuasive pressure,33 as did Alexander Souter, the
New Testament and patristic scholar, who had' been on the Mansfield staff until theprevious year and who was now Regius Professor at Aberdeen. 34 Dr J. W. Ewing, thethen President of the Baptist Union, wrote that 'a friend in Cambridge writes
suggesting that I should send you a line in support of the invitation .. :3 On 3rd
October, Glover's diary records: 'P.C. from Father [i.e. Dr Richard Glover]36 says
Aubrey likely to accept: T. R. Glover apparently wrote urgently again to Aubrey on
the same day, but the decision had already been taken. On the following day Gloverrecords that A. C. Mansfield had called to say that Aubrey is coming and that he[Glover] had received a letter from Aubrey to the same effect. The diary entry
concludes: 'End and beginning - God prosper it!'So the young Mr Aubrey moved to Cambridge in February 1913. He began his
ministry on Sunday, 23rd February, preaching on the text, as recorded by Glover's
diary, 'St Matthew 28:20. A full congregation and a great sermon - a high note'. The
diary continues: 'The evening subject was Acts 17 6/15 and addressed to the young.
In the morning wondered whether we should have hymn "Ring out the old - ring in
the new!'"
For the next twelve years Aubrey ministered at St Andrew's Street. They wereyears of war and of peace. By any standards - humanly speaking - the Cambridge
ministry was outstandingly successful. Almost certainly they were the happiest yearsof Aubrey's life. The church grew in numbers. In 1912 the membership was 412.
When he left in 1925 it stood at 544. That increase was against a strong trend of
decline in the English churches over the same period. His preaching was outstanding.
As a young man, intelligent, academically gifted, well read, with broad interests, heappealed to the undergraduate population. The people heard him gladly. He waswell known in the city, becoming mayor's chaplain. He successfully took thetheological tripos through Trinity Hall. His two children were born during theCambridge days.
An incident of no particular historical significance, but perhap's of some generalinterest, occurred in July 1924 during a family holiday at Hunstanton. A lady
swimmer got into serious difficulties and was rescued from the sea by Aubrey. That
it was literally a life-saving act may be judged from the letter the grateful husband
wrote to him. 'It is quite impossible to find words that will adequately convey to you
our gratitude and admiration for your noble act. Had it not been for your timely
assistance my wife would undoubtedly have lost her life. That fact is probably ofsome comfort to you at times, but what we feel about it can only be left to theimagination: The writer, Mr B. K. Halse of Leigh on Sea, sent a silver cigarette box
as a gift which he suggested, 'may serve to remind you that we shall never forget theday that you risked your life to save that of a stranger: 37,
IV

The Cambridge calm was soon to be shattered. In 1925 Aubrey was to findhimself in another of Dodd's 'perplexing crossways'.
During 1923,
J. H. Shakespeare's health had deteriorated seriously. He haq been asked to preachat the great service in Uppsala Cathedral connected with the third Baptist World
Congress in Stockholm. J. C. Carlile of Folkestone, editor of the Baptist Times andex-President of the Baptist Union, was a close friend and was with him in Uppsalasharing in the service. Carlile records what happened next:357

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY. After I had read the Scriptures, he came to the pulpit to deliver thesermon. He did not notice the Bible and to the consternation of thecongregation he pushed it over the pUlpit. It fell with a great crashbetween me and the lady sitting at my side.38 The preacher did notrecover his composure and the sermon was hopelessly spoiled indelivery. At supper later he broke down and said, 'the falling ofthat Bible is the sign that my work is done,.39
The Assembly of 1924 accepted Shakespeare's resignation and appointed
J. C. Carlile as acting secretary. For some time previously Carlile had been a powerin the denomination; he was to remain influential for a further fifteen years. He wasstrong-minded and capable, a lively editor of and columnist in the Baptist Times, andalso something of an 'ecclesiastical politician'. He was riot universally popular andthere were those who question whether perhaps too much power had accrued to him.
Certainly the Focus group, which was a pressure group of younger Council membersin the 1930s, including R. L. Child, J. O. Barrett, J. B. Middlebrook and E. A. Payne,
viewed Carlile's influence on affairs with some concern. 40
During the summer of 1924 CarliIe made it clear that he was not reallyinterested in being more than 'acting' secretary. He comments in his autobiography:'Secretarial work is not my vocation' .41 It was decided to proceed with the search for
a Secretary of the Baptist Union. At that time there was no General Purposes andFinance Committee to nominate a secretarial committee, so, at the Baptist Union
Council on 18th November, when T. R. Glover as President of the Union was in thechair, the past Presidents on the platform, together with the Vice President, T. S.
Penny, a layman from Taunton, and Herbert Marnham the treasurer, were asked towithdraw and select fifteen ministers and laymen representative of every area of theBaptist Union.
The fifteen selected, together with the officers and two
representatives of the Baptist Women's League, were to serve as a Selection
Committee. The minutes record that the past Presidents returned with their selected'team' 'after a: somewhat protracted absence'!
On 24th November, the Baptist Times reported that the committee is to meet
early in December and 'will, it is hoped, submit one or more names to the Council in
January,.42 Time was clearly of the essence! T. R. Glover, for one, had no doubt not
only that there would be only one name nominated, but also whose name it would be.
His diary for 18th November 1924, the very day the Council chose the nominating
committee,' records: 'Council sets up committee of 15 to propose name of new
secretary - who will be Aubrey, now Rushbrooke clear that he will stick to theEuropean work.'
When the nominating committee did meet on 19th December, Glover, as
President, was in the chair. He opened proceedings by reading two letters, one fromDr Carlile and the other from Dr Rushbrooke, requesting that their names should not
be considered by the selection committee. After protracted discussion (the content
of which is not minuted!), one name was agreed upon for recommendation to the
CounCil at its meeting on 20 January 1925. The name was certainly that ofM. E., Aubrey who seems to have been informed immediately but sworn to virtual
secrecy. A somewhat bizarre problem then arose. On Christmas Eve, Glover's diaryrecords: 'Aubrey called with scandalous fears re B.U. Secretaryship in ChristianWorld.' Two paragraphs had, in fact, appeared in the Christian World dated 25th
Decemberj inferring that Aubrey was second-best choice. 43 The first and larger
paragraph was headed 'Dr Carlile not a candidate'. It goes on to indicate that Carlile
had written to the treasurer, Herbert Marnham, saying that, whilst he had agreed to358

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
act in place of his friend J. H. Shakespeare when the latter became incapacitated,he had agreed to do so for one year only, by agreement with his Folkestone Church.
The paragraph goes on to describe how much had been achieved in that one year butthat now Dr Carlile wished to settle down again in the Folkestone ministry.
The second paragraph is headed 'Probable Secretary' and reads: 'The name ofRev. M. E. Aubrey of Cambridge is freely mentioned as the probable successor to Dr
J. H. Shakespeare as Secretary of the Baptist Union now that Dr CarIiIe has intimatedhis desire to retain his Folkestone pastorate.' So much for Baptist confidentiality!
Where the leak came from we may only guess. We may make what we will ofGlover's further diary comment on 24th December that the Christian World
paragraph 'verbally tallies with Carlile's letter to Marnham'. The Marnham letter is
not extant but it is improbable that he showed it to the Christian World.
After Christmas, on 30th December, T. R. Glover records that he went out to
Aubrey's with letters of support re secretaryship and discovered that he had received
others in the same vein. Aubrey kept some of these letters, including those fromT. S. Penny, W. E. Blomfield, Herbert Marnham and Charles Brown.41l Aubrey
became growingly perplexed as to what to do. He was bound to silence so far as St
Andrew's Street was concerned. But he knew, only too well, what the reaction would
be to his leaving. He must have known, also, that some in Cambridge would hearrumours and read the Christian World. Then a somewhat enigmatic paragraphappeared in the Baptist Times of 9th January, relating to press leaks. It stated thatthe appointment of a Secretary rested with the Baptist Union Assembly, that thenominating committee was pledged to secrecy and concluded: 'Our journalistic
prophets have no information beyond this though they may make very shrewd guesses
as to what is to happen.' The developing situation at Cambridge, and mostparticularly the rumours and insinuations that he was really the second choice, caused
Aubrey to write a letter to the nominating committee - or to Glover as its chairman refusing to allow his name to go to Council. Glover shared this information withsome of the committee when he met them on 7th January, but was determined toproceed with the nomination. They tried to contact Aubrey but he was in Brighton
and could not be located. Another batch of letters was sent to him in support of his
nomination. 45 On 12th January, Glover, Marnham and Charles Brown met Aubrey.
It was clearly a difficult meeting all round. Glover records: 'Aubrey did not show hisbest - nor near it - but will let his name go to Council and I expect will accept.'
I give all these details because they are relevant to all that follows. They also
give an insight into how perplexing for Aubrey the crossway at which he stoodactually was. He was thirty-nine, happy in Cambridge, he was being put under greatpressure by Baptist leaders - both lay and ministerial. He was aware that, had
Rushbrooke not refused to be considered, the chances were that the nomination
would have gone in that direction. W. E. Blomfield had implied as much in a letter
dated 30th December 1924. 46 Aubrey could not talk to his church before thenomination came to Council on 20th January; humanly speaking, he was on his own
at this 'perplexing crossway', for there was no disinterested person to whom he could
turn for advice.
At the Baptist Union Council on 20th January, T. R. Glover moved thenomination of M. E. Aubrey, making clear in so doing that neither" Carlile nor
Rushbrooke wanted their names considered. There was therefore one name, that of
Aubrey, which came to Council as a unanimous recommendation from thenominating committee. The recommendation was seconded by J. H. Rushbrooke. A
number of speakers followed, all of them warmly supporting the proposal. They
represented a very broad band of support. Amongst them were Herbert Marnham(Baptist Union Treasurer), B. Grey Griffith (from South Wales), C. E. Wilson (Baptist
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Missionary Society), Mrs Carey Bonner (Baptist Women's League), S. W. Hughes,
T. S. Penny (Vice President of the Union), John Chivers, Thomas Stewart (Scotland),and Or J. H. Ewing (on behalf of the Superintendents). When Aubrey returned tohear the result, the whole Council stood in their places to signify the unanimity ofthe voting. Aubrey thanked the Council. He said that he would give the matter his
prayerful consideration in conjunction with ,his church at Cambridge. He added that
he believed that a man who left a church and a pastorate took a step downward. 47
Or Dakin proposed that a suitable letter be sent to St Andrew's Street, Cambridge.
The letter was written over the signature of T. S. Penny, Herbert Marnham andJohn C. CarIiIe. 48 They were, of course, Treasurer, Vice-President and Acting
Secretary of the Baptist Union respectively. For obvious reasons, T. R. Glover, thePresident, could not be a signatory. The letter is addressed to Mr Smart as thechairman of the Deacons Meeting at St Andrew's Street and hopes that it will bepossible for him to read it to the brethren when they assemble. The letter
acknowledges T. R. Glover's service to the denomination as President and thenreports the unanimous decision of Council to send forward the name of the Revd
M. E. Aubrey to the Assembly in April as their nomination for the Secretaryship.
The letter continues:
The Council are very conscious that in nominating Mr Aubrey tothe vacant Secretaryship, they are putting a strain upon the loyaltyof the Church at Cambridge. Mr Aubrey's ministry is known
throughout the country, and nothing but the imperative sense ofneed would have constrained the Council to make the nomination.
We trust that, when you are considering the matter, you will think,
as of course you must, of the vital interests of the local church; butthat you will also allow full force to the considerations of the larger
needs of the denomination and that you will not make it too
difficult for your pastor if he feels led to accept the nomination.
At last the whole church at St Andrew's Street could know what was going on and react. React, it did, with determination, clarity and graciousness, On 28th
January 1925 a special church meeting was held to consider the situation. A verbatim
report of what happened reached Aubrey.49 T. R. Glover began by explaining thebackground to, and the strength of, the Baptist Union's invitation to the church's
minister. He admitted his own embarrassment that he was required, as Baptist Union
President, to ask that his own minister should be released. A later speaker aptly
described Glover as 'a predatory hawk with the spirit of a dove'. The minutes showa Baptist church meeting at its best as the members together struggled to discern
God's will. They honoured Aubrey for the gloriously gifted minister that he clearly
was - and how those people wanted him to stay. Yet there was a recognition that
God might be determining otherwise. Oswin Smith was in the chair and moved afour-part resolution on behalf of the deacons. 5o This spoke first of the honour
shown to the minister in the call to the Secretaryship of the Union; secondly, it
expressed affection for him and recognition of his outstanding ministry; thirdly, it
recognized that 'the denomination as a whole should be considered before theinterests of any particular Church', yet submits that both must exist for the extensionof the Kingdom of God and is confident that the minister will consider prayerfully
and carefully whether the Kingdom of God may not be better served by his
remaining in Cambridge; finally, it assures him of the confidence in him and esteem

360THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
for him, and of the prayers of the people that he may be divinely guided. The
resolution was seconded by Mrs Bird, who was also a deacon.
Reading through the speeches, it is possible to hear and to begin to share theanguish of those people of sixty-five years ago who wanted Aubrey to continue - andyet felt that they could not and should not try to stop him going. Here are just two
examples: Mr Ridgeon is speaking, ' ... A good many of us here are business men,
and we know what it is to chafe and ruffle from Monday morning to Saturday night.
When we come here on Sunday we are all of a frazzle and we feel as if life is not
worth living. But on Sunday night we go home with a stiffer backbone and that is
because of Mr Aubrey's message to us Sunday after Sunday. I should certainly liketo have made the resolution stronger, but I have a feeling that we cannot suggest to
him what his duty is, but we can say to him that we want you badly, and we do not
feel that we can let you gO.'51 Mr Smith (of Ashden) says, ' ... After listening to. theremarks of Dr Glover, does it nor rather point to the matter as being of God? And
if the matter be of God, must we not leave it there? Further, we can express to Mr
Aubrey our great devotion to him, and I yield to no-one here in love for him, having
been a member of his for four years and should feel a deep loss should he accept theCouncil's invitation. I therefore think that what we should do to-night is to Ipake
that resolution a resolution of love to him and a wish that he should retain his
position of minister among us, but that we must leave it entirely to him who will beprompted by God in the matter .. .'52.
There were nearly twenty speakers in all. After a fascinating debate of thehighest order, the resolution was put to the meeting and passed unanimously. It was
further agreed that a copy should be sent to the Acting Secretary of the Baptist
Union and also to the Editor of the Baptist Times (they were, of course, the same
person, J. C. Carlile!).
Now Aubrey had to decide what to do. Glover and his committee had to sit itout and wait. They were not inactive and the persuaders were at it again, including
Glover himself in a phone call to Mrs Auhrey. The Baptist Times published theresolution the following week, 6th February, with a comment by Carlile: 'If Mr
Aubrey becomes the pilot, the captain or the engineer - whichever term may be used
to describe the secretary - he may be quite sure that he will be surrounded by loyal
spirits and will have the prayers of a great community.' Fine words - all too typicalof those spoken before a voyage commences!
On 7th February, Aubrey wrote to Glover accepting nomination:
After a great deal of hesitation I have been led irresistibly to theconclusion that it is God's will that in this matter I should submit
myself to the wish of the Baptist people ... It is one of life's
strange happenings that this letter should be addressed to one of myown deacons, who did so much to bring me to Cambridge and tokeep me for these twelve years of the happiest fellowship andservice. 53
At the Tuesday morning session of the Assembly on 28th April,54 the President,
T. S. Penny, proposed Aubrey's election. Herbert Marnham seconded. Mr Oswin
Smart, of Cambridge, made a felicitous speech including, according to the Baptist
Times, 'an unrepeatable humorous reference to the Cambridge diaconate - andespecially to the 'super deacon' whose identity our discernment found in Dr Glover!'Representatives from Wales, the Baptist Missionary Society and the North of England
all spoke warmly in support and the resolution was carried unanimously. Carlile,
never lost for words, describes the scene:361

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY
Mr Aubrey was welcomed by the President, who held him by thehand for quite a few moments. The feeling of some of our leaders
was apparent in eyes that glistened strangely. It could not but be
felt by them that a new chapter in our denominational life wasbeing opened in that welcoming act. An old order was passing,
grand but now closed. A new era was coming to birth.
So Melbourn Evans Aubrey entered into his secretaryship.
NOTES
1. W. M. S. West, To be a Pilgrim, Lutterworth,

1983, obtainable from Bristol Baptist College or
through Baptist Historical Society.
2. West, op.cit., pp.xi, 203.
3. Manuscript at present in possession of Mr J. M.
Aubrey, eventually to go to Angus Library,
Regent's Park College, Oxford.
4. There are in fact two further laconic references,
written partly in shorthand, which Aubrey learnt
at school. Both refer to Dr Johnson and have to
do with public housesl The first comes from
Boswell'sLireofJohnson, vol.ii, p.452, and reads,'There is nothing which has yet been contrived
by man, by which so much happiness is produced
as by a good tavern or inn'. The second is from
Hawkin's Lire of Johnson, p.91, and reads, 'I
have heard him assert, that a tavern chair was
the throne of human felicity'.
6. For details of Edwin Aubrey's service to the
Baptist denomination in the United Kingdom, see
his entry in Baptist Union Handbook, 1906.
6. See Proud 'Century: The first hundred years of
Taunton'School, S. P. Record, Taunton, 1948,
especially Chapters 11 and Ill.
7. Details recorded in The Tauntonian for 1902,
1903, 1904; bound copies available at Taunton
School.
8 The Tauntonian, April 1958.
9. The Tauntonian, Summer 1904.
10. Cap and Gown, Vol.5, p.54, (in possession of
author). Almost certainly November 1907.
11. J. C. Carlile describes Shakespeare as 'an
autocrat to his fingertips; a leader who knew his
own mind and followed his own way', and as one
whose 'dictatorship was wise and benevolent'.
John C. Carlile, My Life's Little Day, 1935,
pp.152, 169.
12. Cap and Gown, op.cit., March? 1908, p.96. Thisissue contains a frontispiece photograph of M. E.
Aubrey, B.A.
13. See Baptist Union Handbook entries for A. Dakinand M. E. Aubrey.
14. This letter and all the other letters referred to inthis paper are, unless otherwise stated, in thepresent possession of the author. In due course
they will go with all other Aubrey material to theAngus Library.
15. A letter was written to Aubrey on 14th
December 1906 from Llangollen but does notmake clear exactly the church involved.

16. Letter from J. H. Shakespeare dated 23rd
February 1911.
17. Letters from Campbell Macintosh, Secretary,West End Baptist Church, Hammersmith, toSelbie, dated 21st February 1911, and to Aubrey,
dated 23rd February 1911.
18. Letter from G. S. Angas, Secretary, Archway
Road Baptist Church, Highgate, dated 5th June
1911, replying to Aubrey's letter of refusal dated
29th May 1911.
19. Letter dated 29th November 1911.
20. A lO-page letter written from 92 Southmoor
Road, Oxford. .
21. Letter written from same address.
22. A small number of personal letters written by
Aubrey to his wife over the years are extant andin the possession of the family.
23. Letter written from 'Northcote', 101 Clarendon
Park Road, Leicester.
24. Letter written from Gonville House, Hills Road,
Cambridge.
25. T. R. Glover's diaries are housed with hiscorrespondence in the Library of St John'sCollege, Cambridge. See H. G. Wood, Terrot
ReaveIey Glover, Cambridge, 1953, p.222 for a
description of these diaries. It would appear thatthey have remained unconsulted by Baptist
writers since H. G. Wood used them.
26. Written from Sheringham.
27. Written from address as in note 24.
28. It is a formidable letter written by a formidable
man. Although towards the end of the letter
Glover writes, 'It may be that you are to stay at
Leicester', the whole argument in the letter
points the other way.
29. Letter from same address in Cambridge as notes
24 and 27.
30. Letter dated 18th September and written on
Arundel House notepaper.
31. Letter dated 18th September.
32. Letter written from 23 West Street, Warwick.
33. Letter written from Mansfield College, 4thOctober.
34. Letter written from 9 College Bounds, Aberdeen,
29th September.
35. Letter written from Ste Marguerite, 40 Grove
Park, Camberwell SE, 23rd September 1912.
36. Dr Richard Glover, elder statesman amongst
Baptists, had been Baptist Union President in

362

THE YOUNG MR AUBREY
1884 and remained influential until his death in
1919.
37. Letter dated 9th December 1924 and writtenfrom The Cottage, Leigh Hall Road, Leigh on
Sea.
38. J. C. Carlile, op.cit., p.167.
39. In assessing the affect upon J. H. Shakespeare,it has to be remembered that the pUlpit in theCathedral at Uppsala is a very high One and theBible was very heavy.
40. Ernest Payne's Journal comments of the B. U.
Councils re early. 1930s: 'M. E. Aubrey the
Secretary was still a relatively young man and arather dominating role was played by Dr J. C.
Carlile who had had charge of the Union during
Dr Shakespeare's breakdown in health.'
41. Carlile, op.cit., p.168.
,
42. Baptiat Times 24th November 1924. 11he Council
was to meet on 20th January.
43. Christian World 25th December 1924. Boundcopies are in the Congregational Library now
housed in Dr WiIliams's Library.
44. T. S. Penny from Taunton dated 27th December
1924. W. E. Blomfield from Rawdon College,
dated 27th December 1924. Herbert Mamhamfrom Frognal Rise, Hampstead Heath, dated 29th
December 1924. Charles Brown from Chorley
Wood (on Ferme··Park notepaper) dated 30th
December 1924.
45. Including one from R. Rowntree Clifford of West
Ham Central Mission dated 7th January 1925.
46. Blomfield wrote from Rawdon: 'I should havebeen quite content to .see Dr R. in the position
but I always had some doubt as to thepracticability of his taking up a work which must
interfere with the close attention needful for the
Baptists on the Continent •.. ' He goes on towrite forcibly, pastorally and persuasively to
Aubrey.
The letter reveals Blomfield'sinteresting view of the denominational leadershipsituation in 1925. 'Securing a denominational
leader is as hard as securing the Principal of aCollege. I saw that clearly enough when Bristol
was vacant. The thing was narrowed down toabout three possible men. Were you to decline
we should find it hard to secure anything likeunanimity.'
47. Blomfield had written a third letter to Aubrey on
1st January 1925, haVing apparently received one
from Aubrey. In the letter he talks about
whether to become the Secretary of the Baptist
Union and therefore to leave the pastoral
ministry is a step up or a step down. He
suggests that it would be a step down if Aubrey
were simply to be a Secretary. But he suggests,'You are going to be vastly more and 20 years
hence you will rejoice.'
48. A copy of this letter is among the Aubrey papers
in author's possession.
49. This report is also amongst the Aubrey papers.
50. A copy of this resolution is attached to thereport in author·'s possession.
51. Page 12 of report of meeting.
52. Page 13 of report.
63. Letter in Baptillt Times, 13th February 1926.
64. Report of Assembly in Baptillt Times, 1st May
1926.

The author wishes to express his appreciation of the ready help given to him by Mr
J. M. Aubrey in the preparation of this lecture.
W. M. S. WEST former Principal of Bristol Baptist College and Special Lecturer in
Theology, University of Bristol, and a Vice-President of the Baptist Historical Society

RECENT DEPOSITS IN THE ANGUS LIBRARY
Newport Pagnell Churchbook 1824-1878. Smarden, Kent, Churchbook 1705-1843;
Churchbook 2 1845-1908; Church Minutes 1888-1906; Register of Members 1756.
Harlow, Foster Street'Burial Ground Register. General Baptist Association of the
New Connexion, Minutes and Register 1887-1938; Minutes 1922-1939. Saffron
Walden, Cosens General Baptist Trust Volume 1 - summary"of Documents 17251864; copy of Will of Robert Cosens; Contributions to the New Meeting House 1792.
and a puzzle

Also two small books of lists of Members and Baptismal Records dated 1767 onwards
for an unnamed church. They have references to Trowbridge and to Bradford(presumably on Avon) and seem to relate to a church in Wiltshire. Anyone interested
in trying to establish to which church they refer should contact the
Librarian/ Archivist, Mrs Sue Mills, at Regent's Park College, Pusey Street, Oxford,
OXI2LB.
363