Anglican

  • “Our congregation worshipped long before the first church was built, served by a series of ‘saddle-bag’ preachers who slogged through the bush on horseback to minister to Church of England families scattered through the township in their log shanties.” 1
  • In 1844, Bolton’s Anglican congregation finally received permission from the Family Compact ruled government to build a church and to lay out a burial ground
  • Ann & Samuel Sterne donated part of their land high on the ridge above the Humber River
  • Money was raised and a mud brick church was built.  It was served by  Rev Henry Bath Osler, a former itinerant preacher, who, in 1843, was appointed to the parish of Lloydtown
  • Unfortunately, the mud bricks deteriorated quickly and in 1848, the congregation rebuilt putting up a timber frame structure in its place
  • After 25 years, the congregation outgrew the second church
  • Seed merchant James Stork donated land on Nancy Street close to the village core and in 1874 the congregation built their third church, this time using local bricks from Norton’s brickyard
Excerpt from the Bolton Inset of Tremaine’s 1859 Map of the County of Peel showing the site of the first Anglican Church and burying ground. University of Toronto Map and Data Library.

 

And the buildings?

  • The early mudbrick church did not withstand the elements
  • The second frame church was eventually dismantled
  • The brick church on Nancy Street has been enlarged and is still standing
  • The original burial ground is at 116 Centennial Drive

  1. Doris Porter and Carole Whitehead, Christ Church, Bolton 1844-1994, from information compiled in 1994