[MELBOURNE] Studio portrait of Henry Varley, Baptist preacher and moral campaigner. New York, c.1875.

A$175 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, cabinet card format, 163 x 114 mm; recto of mount with printed caption HENRY VARLEY, EVANGELIST ; verso with the pictorial back mark of Bogardus Souvenir Card, 872 Broadway, cor. 18th St., New York ; both the print and the mount are in excellent condition. This fine portrait of Varley was taken in 1875 during his first visit to New York, where his preaching at the Hippodrome frequently drew crowds of up to 20,000. From the Australian Dictionary of Evangelical Biography : VARLEY, HENRY (b. Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England, 25 Oct 1835; d. Brighton, England, 30 March 1912). Non-denominational (Brethren) evangelist. Henry Varley, whose father was a brewer and evangelical mother a headmistress, learned the butcher s trade. Converted under Baptist Noel s ministry in 1851 he sailed to Australia in 1854. Unsuccessful as a gold seeker, he prospered as a butcher in Geelong. Returning with his trade to London he married Sarah Pickworth and won an honest reputation. Varley commenced working with a mission to pig feeders at Notting Dale. Each Sunday he walked the streets which reeked of boiling pig wash, encouraging residents to meet for hymn singing and a short Bible message. From 12 adults, numbers quickly grew to 700. Though criticised for commencing an unaffiliated church Varley insisted his congregation would not feel at home in a traditional church. Varley s persuasive premillennial preaching attracted Charles Spurgeon who invited him to preach to 5000 a

• Binding: Hardcover

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