Melbourn Aubrey

Melbourn Evans Aubrey CH (1885–1957) was a Welsh Baptist minister and ecumenist.[1] He was General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland for 26 years from 1925 until 1950. Between 1936 and 1938 he was Moderator of the Federal Council of Free Churches and presented the Loyal Address on behalf of the Free Churches to H.M. King George VI. He was awarded the Companion of Honour in 1937.[2]

Life

Aubrey was the son of Edwin Aubrey, a Baptist minister, in the Rhondda.[1] He was asked by his son to write an account of his life but only three sentences were ever completed: "Your father was born in a public house and I have no need to apologise for it. For one thing it wasn't my fault. For another, it was a very good sin."[3]

Aubrey was educated at Taunton School, followed by Cardiff Baptist College and then as a Scholar at Mansfield College, Oxford.[4] His first ministry was as assistant minister at Victoria Road Baptist Church Leicester prior to St Andrews Street Baptist Church Cambridge where he resided for twelve years.

From Cambridge he was called to the post of General Secretary of the Baptist Union in 1925. Prior to the Second World War he led a campaign to raise £1m for the "Church Extension Scheme." During the war he was also Chairman of the United Navy, Army and Air Force Board of Chaplains, in which capacity he made a long visit to the Mediterranean theatre of war.[5]

After war ended he was a member of the first church delegation to visit Germany in 1946 and became Chairman of the Committee of Churches for Christian Reconstruction of Europe. He was a member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (1948–54) and Vice-Chairman of the British Council of Churches (1948–50).

In 1947 Aubrey was invited to join the Royal Commission on the Press.[6]

Notes
  1. Payne, E. A. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30500. Missing or empty |title= (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "No. 34396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 May 1937. p. 3100.
  3. West Dr W M S 1990 "The Young Mr Aubrey" , The Baptist Quarterly Volume XXXIII No 8 Oct 1990, Baptist Historical Society
  4. Obituary, 19 Oct 1957, The Times.
  5. 24 Oct 1957, "Baptists Lose a Leader, the Late Dr M E Aubrey", The Baptist Times
  6. Royal Commission on the Press (page iii) 1947-1949, June 1949, HMSO

References
  • Times Obituary 19 Oct 1957
  • The Baptist Times 24 Oct 1957
Biographical information
  • West Dr W M S (1990), "The Young Mr Aubrey": The Baptist Quarterly Volume XXXIII No 8 October 1990, Journal of the Baptist Historical Society.
  • West Dr W M S (1992), "The Reverend Secretary Aubrey" Parts 1,2: The Baptist Quarterly Volume XXXIV Nos 5,6 Jan, April 1992, Journal of the Baptist Historical Society.
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