Just for the record... the original 16 page Tract (dated 1838) 'Questions for eight weeks' consideration : addressed to the church of God' (London: Central Tract Depot, Warwick Square) does not include the 1839 and 1841 details, which seem to have been included in a later edition which was the one owned by William Trotter. The matter is discussed with some conjectural interpretation by Dr Donald H. Akenson, 'Discovering the End of Time: Irish Evangelicals in the Age of Daniel O'Connell' (Montreal/Kingston, Canada: McGill-Queens UP, 2016) pp.367-8 n.89. With regard to the subjects discussed in 1831 (on page 6), neither the late Edwin Cross's transcription (as reproduced above) nor Dr Akenson's transcripion (op.cit. p. 384) are accurate, and therefore readers may want to refer to the text (of the 1838 edition) as reproduced on the website of Duke University Library at https://archive.org/details/questionsforeigh00lond
Timothy Stunt

Thanks; I have added the document you mention to the Background Reading section on Powerscourt. Hoping to start volume 2 soon!

Mr. Stunt, on that same page to which you referred (Akenson, 378), Mr. Akenson conjectures concerning the 1830 conference schedule: "there was no such conference." Can you speak to this point at all?

Far be it from me to interpret (let alone gainsay!) the mind of Professor Akenson. The page i his book to which I referred is actually 368 (not 378) and it draws our attention to some uncertainties which may lead one to conclude that there was no formal conference in 1830. My own conjecture (and it is nothing more) is that this being the first such event (as opposed to the non residential conferences of earlier years) was a somewhat 'ad hoc' affair with little prior arrangement. Indeed it may have been organized at the last minute to coincide with Edward Irving's visit to Dublin. By the time the later conferences were in motion, the exact details of dates and subjects (for which there had been no printed programme) were only to be found in the inexact recollections of some of the participants. Repeat: this is only a conjectural supposition! Timothy Stunt.

Mr. Stunt, thank you for your input on this. I've also read that the Adventist historian Le Roy Edwin Froom has argued that the conferences began in 1830, as well, (Carter, "Anglican Evangelicals," 203). I was unaware of Irving's visit to Dublin in 1830. That does seem to be of relevance.

UPDATE: Carter also makes mention that Lady Theodosia Powerscourt invited Edward Irving to visit her estate "during his visit to Ireland in September 1830 (when she introduced him to a number of influential Irish Evangelicals), and for hosting and organizing the initial Irish prophetic conferences" (Carter, 208).

Although I don't agree with the ideology of dispensationalism nor the resulting rapture. Its interesting to understand through historical documents of both Albury and Powerscourt, how these ideas came to fruition.

I find myself with far less angst (and probably anger) understanding that these folk were simply looking for truth outside the realm of the harshly ruled Catholic Church and the State run church systems of Ireland, Scotland and England. I can understand there was no malcontent in the assembly of these ideas and ideology, even though my studies steer me in a different direction.

I understand from these independent Christians, the reasons why the forefathers of the United States forbid as the first amendment to the constitution, the authority of the government to establish its own religion (as in England or Ireland etc.), as well the argument against the State as having authority over church law or canon.

Please keep these documents available for people to read, as they promote an historical account of individuals who possessed a strong belief in the truth through Christ, even though I personally don't agree with some of their conclusions.