Harris, Reginald V. (Reginald Vanderbilt), 1881-1968.

The Church of Saint Paul in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1749-1949 / by Reginald V. Harris ; foreword by George Frederick Kingston.

Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1949.

xii, 310 pages, 23 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm

“The Church of St. Paul, Halifax, has a most unique history, one which cannot be matched by any other parish in Canada – truly an unusual claim. Founded in 1750, by the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, Royal Governor of Nova Scotia and the founder of Halifax, it was the first non-Roman Church in Canada; built and well nigh completed before the rest of Canada had passed to the British Crown in 1763. In its possession is a priceless silver Communion service bearing the Royal monogram of Queen Anne and the date 1713. Its ancient front dates from the time of Charles I. One of its first organs was a prize of the war between Britain and Spain, 1763.St. Paul’s was the first Cathedral of the Church in the overseas Empire. Within its historic walls were held the first episcopal visitation, the first confirmation, and the first ordination, all held and solemnized by the first Bishop of the Church in Canada, that sturdy Loyalist and prelate, the Right Rev. Charles Inglis, D.D. In St. Paul’s was organized the first Sunday School in Canada, and one of the oldest in the world. It was the first garrison chapel of the British army in Canada and within its walls many of our greatest naval and military have worshipped and some of them lie buried within its sacred precincts.Its relations with other churches have been unique, but probably the greatest interest centres about a split in the St. Paul’s congregation in 1825, which resulted in the withdrawal of about half of its members to form the Granville Street Baptist Church, now known as the First Baptist Church, which in the providence of God, became a most potent force in the founding of Acadia University and in other good works. Great names walk through the pages of its history: Hon. Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax; Hon. Richard Bulkeley; Hon. William Nesbitt; Rev. Aaron Cleveland, ancestor of a President of the United States; General Horatio Gates, of American Revolutionary fame; Hon. Charles Lawrence; General James Wolfe, and Sir Jeffery Amherst of Louisburg and Quebec; Abbe Maillard, the beloved priest of the Indians; Chief Justice, the Hon. Jonathan Belcher; Rev. Jacob Bailey, the “Frontier missionary”; Bishop Charles Inglis; Bishop Samuel Seabury; Sir John Wentworth; Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria; Bishop Robert Stanser; Bishop John Inglis; “Bishop” William Black of the Methodist Church; Hon. John Parr; Sir. John Moore of “Corunna” fame; Sir John Sherbrooke; Sir Edward Belcher of Arctic fame; Hon. James William Johnstone and Hon. Philip C. Hill, Premiers of Nova Scotia; Sir James Cochran, Chief Justice of Gibraltar; Hon. Richard John Uniacke, Attorney-General for 33 years, and his distinguished sons; Capt. Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, R.N., in whose arms Nelson fell; Chief Justice Sir Brenton Halliburton; Sir John Harvey, the hero of Stoney Creek and Chrysler’s Farm; Isabella Cogswell, said to be “Nova Scotia’s greatest philanthropist,” Akins, Beamish and Murdoch, the historians; Sir Charles Tupper and Sir Robert Borden, Prime Ministers of Canada; Robert Field and William Valentine, artists of distinction and a thousand others, leaders in Church and State.Today the church bears the proud title of “the Westminister Abbey of Canada,” a treasure house of interest unrivalled in Canadian Church history; flags, brasses, hatchments, mural tablets, fonts, pulpit, lectern, holy table, portraits, windows, arches, all bear witness to its long history, indelibly associated with that of the Province, the Dominion and Empire, an association unique in all Canada. In the historic cemetery a few blocks away are monuments to others which are of equal interest; the gallant Major Welsford and Capt. Parker who fell at Sevastopol; Major Erasmus James Phiipps, founder of Freemasonry in Canada; Edward Winslow and Benjamin Kent and scores of Loyalists; General Robert Ross, distinguished leader in the War of 1812, and many another soldier and sailor in Britain’s wars.To read its history, page by page, is to realize that St. Paul’s today is not only a shrine filled with the echoes of two centuries of vigorous life; but a power house of church activity sending its pulsating life through its sons and daughters to the four corners of Canada, and far beyond.” - Publisher

St. Paul's Church (Halifax, N.S.) History.
St. Paul's Church (Halifax, N.S.)
Church buildings Nouvelle-Écosse Halifax.
Halifax (N.S.) Church history.
Nova Scotia Halifax
Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Halifax Church history.

Church history
History

Location: Library main canada 110300
Call No.: 2975 CAN; ID:86-B22271
Status: Available