The Cooneyites in Billingborough

Billingborough narrowly escaped a mass religious conversion when a bible sect known as the Cooneyites arrived to evangelise the neighbourhood during the first 30 years of the 20th century. The name Cooneyites was coined after their 19th century Irish founder Edward Cooney, but in Billingborough, they also became known as Quinnites after Alfred Quinn, who lead the mission. Their arrival in the village was part of a nationwide crusade to attract people to their cause with similar meetings in Radnor, Berkshire and Somerset although the Lincolnshire gathering was the biggest and soon became known simply as The Event.

The date chosen each year was the Whitsun holiday weekend and in the early years, meetings were held at the village cross roads but as the crowds gathered, it moved to the Primitive Methodist Chapel and then when attendance outstripped the available accommodation, a huge marquee was erected in a paddock adjoining the Fortescue Arms. Lorry loads of equipment would arrive each year before the event opened loaded with beds, tables and benches, and a temporary cookhouse was set up to provide food for the workers. Outhouses, barns and farm machinery sheds were turned into dormitories for visitors while nearby houses and cottages offered lodgings for the frail and infirm.

People arrived from all parts of the county, on foot, by car, coach and cart, and as Billingborough then had its own railway station on the branch line between Bourne and Sleaford, special excursion trains brought in the crowds from further afield. Workers associated with the event spent the day visiting local people in their homes but the highlight were the evening meetings when the marquee was always crowded with 700 to 800 people inside. The meetings included Bible readings and rousing hymn singing interspersed with spirituals and personal testimonies of being called to God.

Children were also included in the proceedings with special activities connected with the bible while baptism, or "dipping the Quinnites", a prerequisite to full membership of the movement, was also a popular feature of the weekend and a stream in the nearby fen had been dammed up some days earlier to ensure that there was a sufficient depth of water required for the total immersion necessary for the ceremony.

The sect had a clergy-laity distinction with ordinary members and the preachers, men who had given up all of their worldly possessions to live according to the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:7-10, i e working in pairs, without money and rejecting the idea of a full time, salaried ministry, while those who supported the mission were expected to provide board and lodgings, clothing and other necessities. Whenever a member died, he would be carried to the graveyard for burial by a pair of workers. The literal acceptance of biblical teachings resulted in great emphasis on the virtues of the simple life and members were expected to sign the pledge and give up alcoholic drink and tobacco and expect a drastic curtailment of their social life. The movement also disparaged the ownership of property and everything was left to the generosity of supporters.

Alfred Quinn was the centre of attention during the missions at Billingborough. He was a tall, bearded Irishman with a commanding figure and his followers regarded him as a saint while his personal charisma was responsible for much of the success of the mission meetings that attracted many titled people and landowners from the locality as well as the working classes.

The impact of The Event on Billingborough and the surrounding area was dramatic and churches and chapels were emptied as congregations deserted them for the mission meetings. But after 30 years, their popularity began to decline and then for some unknown reason, they ended completely and people were left only with their memories. One woman said: "My parents joined them in 1906 and my mother was a life-long member of the sect until her death at the age of 88." Another recalled: "Most people were very sincere and truly tried to live their lives according to their understanding of the bible, and I feel that people who have had dealings with the order will have benefited by their life and testimony to a worldly order."

But what happened to the Cooneyites? They are no longer prominent in England but have a large following in the United States. They have also become one of the largest bible-based cults in Australia where they are known as The Nameless House Church with an estimated 70,000 members although they have no headquarters, no organisation and there is no public seeking of converts. In the past, they have avoided cities, preferring country districts where there was less opposition, hence their attraction to Billingborough. However, they now have large numbers in city areas in Australia and have had great success in wooing people away from their own churches.

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