Lee Wilson

Lee Wilson believed in the Exclusive Brethren. He was convinced that they were the only right position and if there were any faults, it was not the Exclusive Brethren that was wrong. Any faults belonged to certain people within the system rather than the system itself.

Lee came from a privileged Detroit USA Exclusive Brethren family. His father, Rick Wilson, was the grandson of James Taylor Jnr and was a protégé of the Neche pig farmer, James Symington. Under Symington’s leadership between 1970 and 1987, Rick Wilson prospered and was even slated as a possible world leader contender. Lee was his oldest son.

Like many young men, Lee decided to go his own way and left the Exclusive Brethren fellowship while in his late teens. He fell in love and fathered two boys who were his pride and joy.

His relationship with their mother eventually fell apart and subsequently Lee successfully applied for and was granted custody of his two boys. In 2003 Lee met and married a woman who also had 2 children from a previous relationship.

It is not clear what Lee was looking for or hoping to achieve, but he received a letter in late May / early June 2006 from James ‘Jim’ Joyce, his maternal Grandfather.(*)

A few days later, on the night of June 9th, 2006 Lee Wilson took his own life. He was 27 years old.

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1970 was a dramatic year in the history of the Exclusive Brethren. The alcoholic James Taylor Jnr was still firmly in control as the undisputed leader of the Exclusive Brethren. The notorious Aberdeen Incident was only a few days away and, although Taylor himself would die in just a few months, public and private events were spiralling out of control.

Jack Reginald Wallis ran a farm in Dalwallinu, Western Australia. Jack’s son John recalls a tumultuous life leading up to this time:

“My recollections of my father’s life, was one of harassment and turmoil, caused by the Brethren.”

“He was accused of doing things he never did, saying things he never said, and even when he pleaded that ‘that if he had actually said what he was accused of, then he was sorry’ - his pleas were ignored.”

“He was persecuted by the then area leader C.W. ‘Bill’ Silverwright and the leadership of the local assembly in Dalwallinu. Their stern answer was always, ‘by a man’s words is he justified, and by his words is he condemned’.”

“Condemned he was, on many occasions. Growing up in an environment where we never knew if and when we would be “in fellowship” or “out of fellowship” was unsettling for the whole family.”

On July 8th, 1970 John Wallis heard a gunshot from inside the shearing shed on the family farm. He ran to investigate and found his father dead from a gunshot wound.

Although some questions remain even after nearly 40 years, the Coroner stated that the death of Jack Wallis was suicide.

“There is no doubt in my mind that my father’s death on July 8, 1970, was the result and culmination of many years of hardship inflicted on him and his family by the leaders of the “Exclusive Brethren cult, and this was my father’s way of saying, “enough is enough, you are not going to hurt me any more”.”
- John Wallis

Read the article on the Memorial Pages

We approach the story of the death of Mrs. Rose Waddell with the greatest respect for her family. We have received permission to tell the story of Rose through the use of a press article that appeared at the time. We reproduce it in full.

SECT ORDER LED TO WOMAN’S DEATH

The Sydney Morning Herald
November 30 1968
WOLLONGONG, Friday

An order by the Exclusive Brethren had culminated in the death of an Austinmer mother of five, the District Coroner, Mr W M Sherley, S.M. said today.

He said the harsh directive by the sect had broken up a family and caused the woman, a sect member, seven years of emotional distress.

Mr Sherley made the remarks at the conclusion of an inquest into the death of Rose Waddell, 49, of Wigram Road, Austinmer, in September.

He brought in a finding of suicide by strangulation.

Mrs Waddell had been found by her husband hanging from a rafter in an outside toilet near their home.

Mr Sherley said the woman had been in a state of depression before her death.

“She appeared to have no interest in the future.” He said.

Her condition had stemmed from the departure from the family home of three of her five daughters seven years ago.

A directive had been given to the daughters by a religious sect known as the Exclusive Brethren.

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Little is currently known regarding the circumstances of the death of Colin McClean Smith.

What we do know is that 62 year-old Colin took his own life while his wife and 10 children were attending a regular Exclusive Brethren meeting. Colin was in full fellowship at the time.

The Cemetery Records show the date of interment as being July 11th, 1967. We do not have the exact date that Colin died, but it is possible he was buried very shortly following his death.

Research continues. What drove this man to leave his family and take his life?

Read the article on the Memorial Pages

Ken Rogers was excommunicated from the Exclusive Brethren during the 1970’s. As always, this involved leaving everything behind. In Kens’ case, he was forced to leave his wife and three children.

Ken wandered for a while, by all accounts aimlessly. Eventually he bought a yacht and this became his focus for a few years. When his yacht capsized and was lost, Ken returned again to what has been described as an itinerant lifestyle.

Mr. Rogers suffered from mental illness, doubtlessly aggravated by the enforced separation from his family and lack of social interaction. It is important to remember that any ex-Exclusive Brethren person has known only one social group - the impact of the Exclusive Brethren doctrine of ’separation’. Those who are forced to leave must find a way to readjust and learn to interact with a new society outside of the Brethren.

While in this ‘fog’ of mental illness and loneliness, Ken and his only known friend, a big white Alaskan Husky, found their way to Albury in New South Wales. He was seen around town with his dog by members of the Exclusive Brethren. It was 2003 and Bruce Hales had just instituted his now infamous ‘Review’.

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As an example of unyeilding and vicious Exclusive Brethren legalism there is little better example than what happened to Winifred and Elsie Rhodes in UK during 1962.

The British Egg Marketing Board installed legislation that ensured eggs were of a marketable quality. This involved inspection of facilities and various scientific tests. Once the inspection was complete, the sign that an egg was of marketable quality came in the form of a small stamp of a lion. Without the stamp, the egg was deemed unsaleable for the main distribution channels.

On the basis of ‘Separation from evil’, a statement was made by the Exclusive Brethren that this stamp, a seal of food safety, was “an impure link”! James Taylor Jnr, already out of control, deemed that this harmless and health-oriented symbol was ‘The Mark of the Beast’. The small-mindedness and ridiculousness of this particularly idiotic Exclusive Brethren edict would simply be yet another laughable example of a sect being led deeper into cultdom, if it were not for the fact it directly lead to the deaths of Winifred and Elsie Rhodes.

I remember very well the tragedy of the Miss Rhodes, two years after I left the brethren. They were simple, guileless country folk, who managed to support themselves by keeping about 1,500 chickens. They were known among the brethren for their hospitality and few of us ever left their house without some little gift of eggs, flowers or other produce.

For me, the destruction of those harmless innocents ( because the little lion stamped on their eggs by the Egg Marketing Board was said to be ‘the mark of the beast’, as in Revelation 16 and 20) was one of the very worst deeds of the brethren, even at a time when there were many shocking deeds.

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As an example of unyeilding and vicious Exclusive Brethren legalism there is little better example than what happened to Winifred and Elsie Rhodes in UK during 1962.

The British Egg Marketing Board installed legislation that ensured eggs were of a marketable quality. This involved inspection of facilities and various scientific tests. Once the inspection was complete, the sign that an egg was of marketable quality came in the form of a small stamp of a lion. Without the stamp, the egg was deemed unsaleable for the main distribution channels.

On the basis of ‘Separation from evil’, a statement was made by the Exclusive Brethren that this stamp, a seal of food safety, was “an impure link”! James Taylor Jnr, already out of control, deemed that this harmless and health-oriented symbol was ‘The Mark of the Beast’. The small-mindedness and ridiculousness of this particularly idiotic Exclusive Brethren edict would simply be yet another laughable example of a sect being led deeper into cultdom, if it were not for the fact it directly lead to the deaths of Winifred and Elsie Rhodes.

I remember very well the tragedy of the Miss Rhodes, two years after I left the brethren. They were simple, guileless country folk, who managed to support themselves by keeping about 1,500 chickens. They were known among the brethren for their hospitality and few of us ever left their house without some little gift of eggs, flowers or other produce.

For me, the destruction of those harmless innocents ( because the little lion stamped on their eggs by the Egg Marketing Board was said to be ‘the mark of the beast’, as in Revelation 16 and 20) was one of the very worst deeds of the brethren, even at a time when there were many shocking deeds.

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At first, the passing of Reginald Piesse was not treated as anything out of the ordinary - certainly in terms of what his three children were told. Anthony Piesse, Reg’s son was not to learn of the full circumstances of his father’s death until the inquest.

Anthony had left the Exclusive Brethren many years before and upon hearing of the death of his father, naturally attempted to discover the funeral arrangements so that he could pay his last respects. A newspaper report at the time hints at the difficulties Anthony faced in such a normal desire:

“I had some difficulty finding out about the funeral arrangements.”

“I went to the cemetery but kept away from my mother and relatives with the Brethren.”

“It would have caused trouble if I had approached my family.”

- NZ Truth, January 1984

As an ex-member of the Exclusive Brethren, Anthony Piesse had been cut off from all normal contact with his family for 13 years at the time of his father’s death. In those situations, it is normal for ex-members to not hear of a loved-ones death until after the event and horrifyingly, sometimes the Exclusive Brethren do not inform ex-members until after the funeral has taken place.

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Roger Panes was a cattle dealer in Andover, Hampshire, England. In November 1973 Roger 41, his wife Pamela 39 and their three children Graham 7, Adrian 4 and Angela 6 were all members of the Exclusive Brethren.

As a direct result of harsh Exclusive Brethren discipline, Roger Panes killed his wife and three young children before hanging himself on March 4th, 1974. It remains one of the most senseless and unnecessary murder suicides on record and is entirely due to the way that the Exclusive Brethren demand total and complete control over individuals.

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Pamela’s husband, Roger Panes, was a cattle dealer in Andover, Hampshire, England. In November 1973 Roger 41, his wife Pamela 39 and their three children Graham 7, Adrian 4 and Angela 6 were all members of the Exclusive Brethren.

As a direct result of harsh Exclusive Brethren discipline, Roger Panes killed his wife and three young children before hanging himself on March 4th, 1974. It remains one of the most senseless and unnecessary murder suicides on record and is entirely due to the way that the Exclusive Brethren demand total and complete control over individuals.

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