Eva Hales

The story of Eva Maude Snowball Hales is dark and one which reverberates through time. It is glaringly significant that the Aunt of previous ‘elect vessel’ John S Hales and his brother W. Bruce Hales, respectively father and uncle of today’s leader, Bruce D Hales, died at her own hand, but it is the reasons why Eva was driven to take her own life that should make you take pause.

Eva Hales was known as a strong woman. She had a mind of her own and was therefore not a natural recruit for the Exclusive Brethren sisterhood. It was because she consistently rejected repeated proposals to join the Exclusive Brethren that she became the subject of increasing pressure to conform to the Hales family’s wishes. It was a process that eventually would cost Eva her life.

Eva became increasingly described as ‘difficult’ - a badge of honor indeed, given her lonely stance in a family that had extraordinary ambitions.

In the mid-1960’s, almost precisely half-way through the turbulent decade of James Taylor Jnr, two brothers were sowing the seeds of havoc among the Exclusive Brethren. James Taylor Jnr was ‘away’, although we now know the seriously sick man was being treated for advanced alcoholism. During the period of time he was absent, John Stephen Hales and his brother W. Bruce Hales moved like a whirlwind through the Exclusive Brethren. They concentrated on money. They wanted to know how much you made, how much you had and how much you were prepared to give. It became known as ‘The Commercial System’.

W. Bruce Hales, the current leader’s uncle and namesake, had married well. He had Consuelo, the daughter of James Taylor Jnr on his arm. This coup granted WBH immediate status among the Exclusive Brethren. Couple this with the financial brains of his brother and their joint raw energy related to all matters financial, the ‘dynamic duo’ took hold of a temporarily leaderless flock and attempted some dramatic changes.

Read all »

Andrew James Hackett died age 26 years on 12th / 13th June, 1995.

He died because he could not live with the forced separation from his children, a vicious edict from his local Exclusive Brethren. He tried to reach out for help, but it was in the early 1990’s and in the days before many ex-Exclusive Brethren knew each other or had formed support groups as they have today.

Nearing desperation, Andrew called someone he knew many miles away in Melbourne. Warren McAlpin tells of his feelings of helplessness when he received the call:

“In 1994 Andrew Hackett phoned me in Melbourne from Newcastle, Maitland NSW and asked for help. I had no money and he had lived about 12 hours away so I couldn’t drop everything and hitch-hike to Maitland N.S.W.”

“His words still ring in my ears today, so many years later:”

“The Brethren won’t let me see my little twins on their birthday.”

“I couldn’t do anything but listen and pray for the best for him.”

“He took his own life in the following weeks.”

Today Andrew lies near his parents in East Maitland Cemetery, near Newcastle NSW, Australia. In a final insult to his memory, no date of his passing is shown on his grave, just his age - the heartlessness of the Exclusive Brethren engraved in stone.

Visit the Memorial Pages

There is almost a comical component behind the reason Jared Earl was excommunicated. Radios and television have always been banned among the Exclusive Brethren. By contrast, it can be surprising to learn that almost every Exclusive Brethren meeting room has had state-of-the-art amplification systems installed for the past fifty years. As many EB boys discovered, a simple length of cable can easily act as a radio aerial if carefully positioned and then connected to an amplifier. Using this technique, Jared Earl had fine-tuned access to several local radio stations.

Under the pretext of carrying out Saturday afternoon maintenance work on his local Exclusive Brethren meeting room, Jared would deploy his cable and attempt to supplement his income by betting on local dog races. As can be expected, the Exclusive Brethren did not see the funny side when Jared was discovered by an unexpected visitor one Saturday afternoon, who naturally reported him to the local priests.

It was early 1980’s and during the harsh Symington era. Jared was immediately shut-up and subsequently withdrawn-from. Rather than risk a level of sympathy for his mischievous behavior, a manufactured story was circulated that described Jared Earl as being “mentally unstable” - as if this was sufficient reason to separate him from his wife and six children. To those better informed, they were quietly told that Jared suffered from “a gambling addiction”.

Read all »

Rex Campbell Curtis was the son of Alan and Mavis Curtis and was brought up in the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand.

Rex left the Exclusive Brethren in the mid 1960’s at age 19. He later married Corellie and together they had two daughters.

His upbringing within the Exclusive Brethren troubled Rex throughout his life and one day in the summer of 2001, Rex chose to die rather than to continue living with his pain.

In a manner chosen by several ex-members, Rex made a strong statement of blame in the timing and selected location of his death. He had never attended the Perth Meeting Room as a member of the Exclusive Brethren.

The body of Rex Curtis was found hanging from a tree in the grounds of the Perth Australia Meeting Room following the normal Tuesday night Ministry Meeting on July 17th, 2001. At that time, the Perth Meeting Room boasted landscaped grounds and had a number of mature trees. Two young children were playing following the meeting and found Rex between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Read all »

We discovered details of Kevin Richard Brandon’s death just by searching the Internet one day. We found a single-page Blog entry by the daughter of one of Kevin’s friends. When we found the blog, read and listened to what was there, work had to stop for the day.

In the way only a few lines of words can convey, we can taste the heartache and loneliness of a man separated by the Exclusive Brethren from his wife and six children. To cope with his anguish, Kevin became a drug addict who used street drugs to self-medicate. A number of ex-Exclusive Brethren use alcohol - Kevin chose methamphetimine.

Kevin did not seemingly leave much behind, but in fact he left a great deal. He left his friend an iPod which contained a Play List called ‘Final Mix’. It is a suicide note of many dimensions. Merely the titles of the songs speak of how Kevin came to be in a place of desperation and his choice of final song will move you to tears.

Read all »

David Beech died from smoking cigarettes.

In one of the most heart-wrenching stories of Exclusive Brethren legalism and harsh punishment, ‘fun-loving’ David Beech was brought to a place of complete despair by the Exclusive Brethren and died horrifically at his own hand … because he was a secret smoker.

David had enjoyed the occasional cigarette for many years. One day, his wife Diana discovered a half-empty pack in a closet and asked David whether they belonged to him. David, realising that his 20-year secret had been possibly uncovered, initially lied and said that the cigarettes did not belong to him.

As this sad story of psychological abuse by the Exclusive Brethren unfolds, it becomes clear that perhaps not only cigarettes deserve a Government Health Warning. It is becoming clear to many that breaking an Exclusive Brethren edict can kill you. Read all »