William 'Cairo' BRADLEY

BRADLEY, WILLIAM 'CAIRO' (b. Newry, Ireland, 5 Sept 1870; d. Sydney, NSW, 3 Jan 1945). Co-founder of the Egypt Mission Band (later Egypt General Mission) and evangelist.

Bradley was raised in a devout Presbyterian home. After completing his schooling he worked in the family linen manufacturing business in Newry, founded by his grandfather. He was sent to Manchester to represent the firm. During his stay he excelled at soccer (playing centre half for Manchester and England) and became a Christian. He left England in 1898 for missionary service in Egypt, together with six other young men of a like mind. They formed the Egypt Mission Band which later became the Egypt General Mission (EGM).

Bradley met his wife-to-be—Mary Gertrude Harrison—at a missionary convention at Ain Zahalta in Lebanon. She was a CMS nurse from Sydney, Australia, working at the Gaza Hospital in Palestine. They were married in Cairo in 1902, after which they established their home at Belbeis in the Nile delta. Their three children were born in Cairo. With the advent of World War One, and the build up of allied forces in the Middle East, he was released by the Mission to work amongst British soldiers based in Alexandria.

In 1919 he left with the family for Australia, intending to leave the children in Sydney for their schooling and then return to Egypt with his wife. However, arriving in Sydney and confronting large numbers of men returning from the war, he was immediately attracted to ministry with demobilised soldiers. It was the beginning of a new and expanding ministry that was to absorb his considerable gifts as an evangelist and evangelical leader—principally in Sydney—for the remainder of his life. The sobriquet, 'Cairo', dates from this time and it was an enduring link with his earlier years in Egypt. He became a member of the Church of England and he developed close relationships with a number of clerical and lay leaders in the diocese of Sydney and with other protestant churches.

Bradley was well-known for his 'tent missions' in the Sydney area, and evangelistic preaching elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand. He was influential in establishing Open Air Campaigners in Sydney, and in the early years of World War Two he sponsored the work of Campaigners for Christ in New South Wales. However, he is probably best remembered for his role in founding the United Intercessory Service, which began in the School of Arts in Pitt Street in 1921 and later moved to the basement of the Sydney Town Hall. It was essentially a prayer meeting held weekly from 1-3 pm, interspersed with short addresses from prominent churchmen, such as R B S Hammond (q.v.). It frequently attracted more than a thousand people at one time. Bradley also founded the City Men's Bible Class in Sydney in 1927.

His funeral was held at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney. The service was conducted by Abp Howard Mowll (q.v.) and the eulogy was given by Archdeacon H S Begbie (q.v.). The service at the crematorium was conducted by Rev Dr Frank Raywood, Superintendent of the Central Methodist Mission.

His children carried on similar Christian good works in the next generation. His eldest daughter Jessie Irene (b. Cairo, 15 April 1903; d. Sydney, 15 Dec 1987) married Alex(ander) Arthur Gilchrist (q.v.), evangelist and Christian broadcaster. His second daughter, Gwen(dolyn) Ruth (b. Cairo, 20 Sept 1904) a graduate in medicine and psychiatry from the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne respectively, married Rev Lawrence Nash (son of Rev C H Nash (q.v.)). His son Stephen (b. Cairo, 4 April 1909) is a former presiding bp of the Church of England in South Africa. His second youngest brother, A W 'Sandy' Bradley, was for many years treasurer of the Keswick Convention in England.

B G Judd, He That Doeth: The life story of Archdeacon R.B.S. Hammond, O.B.E. (Sydney, 1951); J C Pollock, The Keswick Story: The authorized history of the Keswick Convention(London, 1964)

CHRISTOPHER JOHN PITTENDRIGH