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168 plaques found that match your criteria
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Cornwall Grammar School
Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School traces its beginning to an educational institution founded by John Strachan in 1803. Strachan, an Anglican priest, opened a private school in his home where he hoped to educate young men to take on leading roles in society. In 1806 he built a schoolhouse that became one of the first provincially funded district grammar schools one year later. Many of Upper Canada's elite received their education under Strachan's respected and... -
Knesseth Israel Synagogue
The Junction Shul" was founded early in the 20th century in a building at the corner of Maria Street and Runnymede Road, with a congregation primarily of Polish and Russian Jews. As the congregation grew, construction of this building began in 1911 and it appears that services were first held here about 1913. Designed by the architectural firm Ellis and Connery, the exterior is simple and the interior evokes the splendour of Eastern Europe. Typical... -
Banwell Road Area Black Settlement, The
Beginning in the 1830s, at least 30 families fleeing enslavement and racial oppression in the United States settled in the Banwell Road area in Sandwich East. They had the opportunity to purchase land through two Black-organized land settlement programs - the Colored Industrial Society (a mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Sandwich East) and the Refugee Home Society (administered by Black abolitionist Henry and Mary Bibb of Maidstone). Freedom and land ownership meant... -
Old St. Paul's Church & Christ Church
With the assistance of local parishioners and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Reverend Richard Pollard began construction of St. Paul's Church in 1819. Located one kilometre from here on Stanley Street, St. Paul's was the first church in Chatham and the first Anglican church in Kent County, serving the local population which included members of the Black community and the British garrison. By the 1840s, the congregation had outgrown St. Paul's... -
Aimee Semple McPherson 1890-1944
The celebrated evangelist and faith healer Aimee (Kennedy) McPherson was born on a farm west of here. She led revivalist meetings in Ontario in 1915-16 and then barnstormed the United States, drawing large crowds in tents, concert halls and sports arenas. Capitalizing on her vast popularity, she founded the Church of the Foursquare Gospel and built the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles in 1923. Sister Aimee preached her message of Christian love daily in the... -
Armadale Free Methodist Church 1880, The
One of the earliest Free Methodist societies in Canada was established in this area at nearby Ellesmere in 1874. The first services were held in a "Meeting House" provided by Robert Loveless, a former Primitive Methodist, who was largely responsible for the organization of this congregation. Within six years another congregation had been established here at Armadale with initial services being held in the home of Silas Phoenix. The growth of the congregation led to... -
Beaverdams Church 1832, The
Early in the 1790s, a group of settlers in this area had been converted to Methodism and formed a Class which, in 1795, was included in the newly established Niagara Circuit. Services were held in the home of a prominent local settler, Israel Swayze, and camp meetings took place on his property. This church, one of the oldest remaining Methodist chapels in the province, was built in 1832. The Reverend Egerton Ryerson, who later was... -
Bible Christian Church, The
Perhaps the most fervent of the Methodist sects, the Bible Christian Church was formed in southwestern England in 1815 and established in Upper Canada during the 1830's. Served by itinerant preachers, its small but loyal membership increased gradually, largely among British emigrants from Devon and Cornwall who had settled in rural areas in Northumberland, Durham and Huron Counties. In 1855 the Canadian mission, noted, as was the parent English body, for its emphasis upon lay-ministerial... -
Bishop Alexander Macdonell 1762-1840
Patriot, colonizer and priest, he was born in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1804 he came to Canada as chaplain of the disbanded Glengarry Fencibles and later became Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec. As the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Kingston, formed in 1826, he lived in this building and in 1831 was appointed to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. In 1837 he founded Regiopolis College in Kingston and is buried in St. Mary's Cathedral in this city. -
Bishop's Palace 1818, The
On this site stood the "Bishop's Palace", residence of Bishop John Strachan (1778-1867), built in 1817-18 while he was the incumbent of St. James' Church. Born in Scotland, he came to Upper Canada in 1799 where he achieved prominence as an educator and churchman and was consecrated first Anglican Bishop of Toronto in 1839. He served as a member of the province's Legislative Council 1820-41and of the Executive Council 1815-36. During the Rebellion of 1837, the Loyalist forces that defeated William Lyon Mackenzie near Montgomery's Tavern assembled on the grounds of the Palace. -
Buxton Settlement, The
The Elgin Settlement, also known as Buxton, was one of several organized Black settlements in Ontario in the 1800s. Named after British abolitionist Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, it was founded in 1849 by Reverend William King (1812-95), a Presbyterian minister who arrived with 15 formerly enslaved people to create a settlement on 2,832 hectares (7,000 acres) in Raleigh Township. In addition to farming, freedom seekers and free Blacks established roads, a sawmill, grist mill, brickyard... -
Cathedral of St. Peter-in-Chains, The
The parish of St. Peter-in-Chains was established in 1826 to serve the large Irish Catholic population of the surrounding Robinson Settlement. This building, erected in 1837-38 of stone from nearby Jackson's Creek, is one of the oldest remaining Catholic churches in Ontario. Reportedly designed by the Toronto architect James Chevette, it follows the modified gothic Revival style popular in Upper Canada during the period. In 1882, when the Diocese of Peterborough was erected St. Peter's... -
Christ Church 1819
This church was built in 1818-19 on land donated by Col. William Caldwell. One of the earliest Anglican places of worship in western Upper Canada, it was constructed through the efforts of the Reverend Richard Pollard, an itinerant missionary stationed at Sandwich. The first incumbent was the Reverend Romaine Rolph who served from 1819-1836. The church and burial ground were consecrated in 1833 by the Right Reverend C.J. Stewart, Bishop of Quebec. Christ Church served the garrison of Fort Malden for many years and is one of the oldest remaining church edifices in the province. -
Christian Warner 1754-1833
Born in Albany County, N.Y., Warner served in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolution, and settled in this vicinity shortly after the corps was disbanded in 1784. Converted to Methodism, Warner became the leader of one of the earliest "Methodist Classes" in the province. Services were held at his home, and in 1801 a simple frame chapel was erected on his property. It became known as the "Warner Meeting House" and was the first Methodist... -
Church of St. John the Evangelist, The
One of the province's oldest Anglican churches, St. John's was begun in 1825, during the pastorate of the Reverend William Leeming, and consecrated three years later. It was erected under the auspices of Lieutenant-Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had a summer residence nearby, with additional financial support and gifts of land and furnishings donated by Robert Henry Dee, a retired officer of the Commissariat Department, John Beverley Robinson, Attorney-General of Upper Canada, and other civic... -
Church of the Holy Trinity 1847, The
This church was made possible by a gift from Mary Lambert Swale of Yorkshire, England, who stipulated that "the seats be free and unappropriated forever". At that time most other Anglican churches charged pew rentals. John Simcoe Macaulay donated the land, then on the outskirts of Toronto. Bishop John Strachan consecrated the church and Henry Scadding was first rector. Henry Bower Lane, architect, designed the modified Gothic church in the ancient cruciform plan. Bricks were... -
Sacré-Cœur Parish
In 1887, Sacré-Cœur Parish was founded as the first Roman Catholic parish to serve the French-Canadian community in Toronto. Father Philippe Lamarche came from Montreal to found the church and served as priest until his death in 1924. The Parish's first church building, located on King Street near Sackville Street, was purchased from a Presbyterian congregation in 1888. Since that time, francophones have been able to worship in their own language at Sacré-Cœur Church. This... -
Church of the Holy Trinity, The
A frame church was built here following the arrival in 1820 of an Anglican missionary, the Reverend William Leeming. It was burned on the night of September 12-13, 1839, by supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie who crossed the Niagara River from New York State. The present church was designed by John Howard and built with the aid of private subscriptions and government assistance. The corner-stone was laid in 1841 by Bishop John Strachan. Among the... -
Cowley Fathers at Bracebridge, The
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist was founded by an Anglican priest at Cowley, England in 1866. Bound by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, members of the order devote their lives to prayer and community service. The Society began its ministry in Canada in 1927 when three Cowley Fathers arrived in Emsdale to take charge of the scattered Anglican missions in Muskoka. They established a monastery in Bracebridge the following year. At a... -
Dixie Union Chapel
Constructed of stone from the nearby Etobicoke River, this building also known as the Stone Chapel, is a rare surviving example of a "union" chapel from the settlement period of Upper Canada. It was erected in 1837 through the efforts of John Silverthorn, Allen Robinet and Daniel Harris, prominent early settlers of Toronto Township. It replaced a previous log structure in which Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians worshipped as early as 1816. The erection of such... -
Father Pierre Potier 1708-1781
The first Pastor of the Assumption Church, Potier was born in Blandain, in present day Belgium. In 1721 he entered a Jesuit college and, after pronouncing his final vows in 1743, he came to Quebec. An avid scholar, Potier began an intensive study of the Huron language at Lorette. A year later, he was sent to Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) Island to serve the Huron Mission of the Assumption. In 1748 he moved with the mission... -
First Baptist Church, Puce
The origins of First Baptist Church go back to the 1840s, when black settlers from the United States began to form a farming community in this area. Their numbers increased during the 1850s when the Refugee Home Society purchased lands along the Puce River to sell to freedom-seekers from the American South. Religion played an important role in community life. At first Baptists and Methodists worshipped in the same building, but by the early 1860s... -
Black Settlement in Oro Township
The only government-sponsored Black settlement in Upper Canada, the Oro community was established in 1819 to help secure the defence of the province's northern frontier. Black veterans of the War of 1812 who could be enlisted to meet hostile forces advancing from Georgian Bay were offered land grants here. By 1831, nine had taken up residence along this road, called Wilberforce Street after the renowned British abolitionist. Bolstered by other Black settlers who had been... -
Alderville Manual Labour School
One of several technical training institutions operating in Upper Canada during the first half of the 19th century, the Alderville Manual Labour School was established here by 1839 by Wesleyan Methodist missionaries. The school was designed, as were others of this type, to assimilate Native children into the Euro-Canadian society that was growing rapidly within the province. To that end, it attempted to eradicate the traditional Native way of life, and stressed instead Christianity, the... -
Elisabeth Bruyère 1818-1876
In the 1840s, Bytown (Ottawa) was a growing timber-trade village with a substantial French-Canadian population but no Catholic schools and few social services. In February of 1845 the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Grey Nuns) sent four nuns here. Led by Élisabeth Bruyère, a devout, well-educated young woman, the sisters quickly established a bilingual school for girls, a hospital and an orphanage. They helped the poor, the elderly and the sick, including hundreds of immigrants...