The cult of the family: What apocalyptic sect did hamilton-byrne lead? Rose jones & rosie jones How many children were brought up by the hamilton-byrnes cult? Was hamilton-byrne a living god? In 1987 a teenage girl escapes from a remote lakeside compound. Spanning over half a century, digging deep into the cult of the family and its duplicitous, alluring leader. The apocalyptic group the family and their guru, anne hamilton - byrne — one of few female cult leaders — captured international headlines throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Is anne hamilton-byrne still in the family? At the heart of her cult was a dark and terrible secret – a bizarre experiment to raise a ‘master race’ of children. Who is anne hamilton-byrne? With anne hamilton-byrne, lex de man, ben shenton, bill hamilton-byrne. Convinced she was a living god, hamilton - byrne headed an apocalyptic sect called the family , which was prominent in melbourne from the 1960s to the 1990s. This is the chilling true story of anne hamilton - byrne and her cult, known simply as “the family. ” Was anne hamilton-byrne a god? With survivors and former cult members telling their stories alongside the australian detectives and the investigative journalist who worked the case, this confronting three-part tv series exposes not just the family but also the conservative community that allowed it to flourish. Doctors and lawyers complicit in a nightmare hidden in plain sight. Beginning around 1964, anne hamilton - byrne led a religious and philosophical discussion group at santiniketan, the home of parapsychologist raynor johnson, on the eastern outskirts of melbourne in the dandenong ranges suburb of ferny creek. Former yoga teacher anne hamilton-byrne led the melbourne cult the family, claiming to be jesus reincarnated.
