The Church of England was the first denomination to offer religious services in York(1).
This was because many of the first settlers in Simcoe’s Upper
Canada were English. They had no clergy, and held Sunday services in
the Parliament Buildings(2).
In recognition of this six acres of land were set aside in 1797 for the
construction of an Anglican church between New (now Jarvis), King,
Church and Newgate (now Adelaide)(3).
The movement to build the first St. James’ church began six years later(4). It was a small wooden building, 60 feet long by 40 feet wide, made from the pine trees which had densely covered the lot(5).
The Harvard-trained George O`Kill Stuart (1776-1862) was the first
rector and one of the main fundraisers behind the church’s
construction(6).
The first St. James’ Church in York was charming but very small.
John Strachan, originally of Aberdeen, moved to York on the eve of the
War of 1812(7). As the new rector, he waited impatiently for an end to the looting and
dismantling
of his church by American troops. Soon after the war, Strachan began to
spiritually rebuild his congregation and church.
After
serving thirty years as the symbol of the Church of England for the
colonial outpost, the wooden St. James’ became too small to be of
use to the large congregation. It burned to the ground in 1830(8). A new church of hammer-dressed Kingston limestone was designed for the same site(9). The 1831 St. James’ Church cost 12 500 pounds sterling to build and was designed in the elegant Regency style(10). The cornerstone read: James G. Chewett, architect and John Riley, builder(11).
Here lies one of the many injustices of history. It was not Chewett but
Thomas Rogers who was the architect of the 1831 St. James’(12).
Rogers, whose training and place of origin have long since been lost,
had sent his plans for a Corinthian St. James’ to Strachan in
1831(13).
It would seem that not only were his original plans altered, but those
involved chose to omit his name. Rogers’ limestone church lasted
until the Great Fire of 1849(14). |
Notes
- Robertson, I, p.501.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., p.347
- Ibid., p.346.
- MacRae and Adamson, Hallowed Walls, p.40.
- Ibid., p.39.
- Ibid., p.49.
- Martyn, The Face of Early Toronto, p.27.
- MacRae and Adamson, Hallowed Walls, p.206.
- Robertson, I, p.506.
- MacRae and Adamson, Hallowed Walls, p.206.
- Ibid., pp.206-08.
- Ibid., p.207.
- Ibid., p.208.
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