Bosworth at Trafalgar and Montreal

written by Micheline Johnson

                                                      Edit 2006-03-21

Edit Appendix number references

Introduction

Newton Bosworth (1778-1848), a Baptist, was born at Peterborough on April 3rd, 1778, the son of a schoolmaster. In 1803, Bosworth took over the school of Olinthus Gregory in Cambridge, England. His children were born in that town. His school was at Llandaff House, 2 Regent Street. In 1823, he gave up the school, and moved to London. Here, he first settled at Tower Hill [Baptist Magazine, 1824, p363]. In 1830 and 1831, he was living in Hackney, where it is assumed he attended F.A. Cox's church there [William Johnson (1793-1871), Thoughts on Education, 1830, List of Subscribers; Newton Bosworth, Destruction of the Last Enemy discourse in memory of Robert Hall, at Stoke Newington, 1831, Preface]. Finally he lived at Bruce Lodge, Tottenham [Olinthus Gregory, Robert Hall's The (Entire)Works of Rev. Robert Hall, A.M. . . . . , London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1831-1833, 6v, List of Subscribers, after Index of Texts in vol. 6 published in 1833], a few km north of Hackney, where he was a neighbour of Joseph Fletcher, the ship-owner. But having financial difficulties, he decided to emigrate to Canada, and try his hand at farming. This he did in 1834, at the age of 56.

This article describes what has been found todate (April, 2006) about his life on the two farms near Toronto, the first near York Mills (1834-1835), and the second in the township of Trafalgar (1835-1842), plus some of what he did while in Montreal (1835-1839). Life on the farms at Woodstock (1842-1845) and at Paris (1845-1848) will have to wait until further research has been done on these.

Background

Bosworth and his family emigrated to Canada shortly after the first wave of British (English, Scottish, Irish) immigrants to Upper Canada. But first, some background on the state of the Baptist church in the Ottawa Valley and Montreal.

Montreal was not the first to have a Baptist church in this area. The table summarizes the founding dates and sizes (membership) of the earliest Baptist churches there. Note the difference in founding dates of Dalesville (Chatham township) AKA "Rear of Chatham" and Montreal, depending on source.

Church		Membership
Where	Date Founded	1835	1838	1839	1844	1845	1846	1865
Breadalbane	2 Aug 1817^5,6, 1816^8		184^1	182^2	125^4		117^5
Dalesville	1824^3, 1826^6		80^1	85^2	86^4		91^5
Clarence	1825^3,6
Montreal	13 Nov 1831^7, 1830^6	119^6	108^1	76^2	145^4	163^5	163^5	300^6
Petite Nation	6 Sept 1835^6
St Andrew's	August 1836^6
Osgood	14 July 1839^6			45^6			99^5
. . . . .

(1) Missionary Register in Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 1, No 10, (Mar 1838), p232;

(2) Missionary Register in Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 2, No 10 (Mar 1839), p233;

(3) Missionary Register in the The Canada Baptist Magazine, (April 1841), v4, #10, pp242-3;

(4) The Register, Montreal Thur Feb 22, 1844, v3, No 8, 3rd page, col1;

(5) David Benedict, A general history of the Baptist denomination in America, and other parts of the world, New York: L. Colby, 1848, 1850, 1853 and 1860 edns, p902, notes 3 & 4].

(6) Rev Daniel McPhail, Churches of the Ottawa Baptist Association, 1865, Circular Letter and a Brief History of the Churches of the Association, published 1865, reprinted Vernon: Osgoode Township Historical Society,  1981;

(7) Membership Register, First Baptist Church, Montreal, Memorandum at front.

(8) Albert Henry Newman (1852-1933), D.D., LL.D. (McMaster University), Sketch of the Baptists of Ontario and Quebec to 1851, found in D.M. Mihell (ed), The Baptist Year Book, 1900, published in London, Ontario: by the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, 1901, p75

The Montreal church started with 25 members when it was organized on November 13, 1831 [Membership Register, First Baptist Church, Montreal; Loutit*, First Baptist Church in Montreal, 1831-1981, 1981] [* It is not certain who the author was. There is no author on the title page. The Preface is signed "November 13, 1981, Isobel Loutit". The Foreword is signed "Rev. John MacPhail". Forewords are not usually written by the author. In the following, I have attributed this history to Loutit]. The turnover of membership must have been great. According to the membership numbers in the Membership Register, the number of people who had become members up to the end of 1843  was more than 340; for example #158 (Newton Bosworth) in November 1835, #223 (James Mills) in April 1839, and #341 (Frederick Bosworth) in December 1843; but the number of active members was much less (see the table above). McPhail says: "When Mr. Rice became Pastor in 1837, the Church restricted her communion to baptized believers; several at this time left the Church, which accounts for the reduction," [Rev Daniel McPhail, Churches of the Ottawa Baptist Association, 1865, Circular Letter and a Brief History of the Churches of the Association, published 1865, reprinted Vernon: Osgoode Township Historical Society,  1981].

Details on the founding of the First Baptist Church in Montreal, also differ depending on source. A Memorandum at the front of the Membership Register of First Baptist, Montreal, records:

"Mr Gilmore began to preach in Mr Bruce's Schoolroom, McGill Street, Sept 12, 1830, two days after landing. The new chapel on St Helen street was opened for worship on Sept 25, 1831. The church was organized Nov 13, 1831, and Mr Gilmore officially becoming pastor on that date."

This date of formation was confirmed by Cox, who in his 1836 report of his travels through North America, says of Montreal:

"The annals of the baptist church show, since its formation in 1831. . . . ."

[Rev F.A. Cox, D.D, LL.D., and Rev J. Hoby, D.D, The Baptists in America; a narrative of the deputation from the Baptist Union in England, to the United States and Canada, New York: Leavitt, Lord and Co, . . ., 1836, p180], but he may have just been quoting what he read in the Membership Register. This date is also confirmed in that the "Tenth Anniversary of the formation of the Baptist Church in Montreal, was held on Friday the 12th of November," [1841], . . .  [The Register, Vol 1, No 1, Jan 5, 1842, p3, col 1] and in that the "Twelfth Anniversary of the formation of the Baptist Church in Montreal, was held on Monday the 13th instant [13 Nov, 1843], . . . . [The Register, Montreal Thur Nov 23, 1843, v2, No 47, p187, col1]

Fitch says that Gilmore came to Canada in 1829 and organized the "First Church, Montreal" in 1830, and was the chief promoter of, and for some years one of the teachers in the Montreal Baptist College. [Rev E.R.Fitch, B.A, B.D. (ed), The Baptists of Canada: a history of their progress and achievements, Toronto: Standard Pub Co., 1911, pp106, 124]. Gibson, quoting Schutt and Cameron  [C.H. Schutt and C.J. Cameron, The Call of Our Own Land, Toronto: American Baptist Publications Co, ND, est 1923, p44; or 1938 edn published by the Home Mission Board of the Baptist Convention (Ontario and Quebec), p40], says that the St Helen Street Church in Montreal was organized in 1830  [Theo T Gibson, "Robert Alexander Fyfe, his contemporaries and his influence", Welch Publishing, Burlington, Ontario, 1988, ch.12, p172]. Daniel McPhail says:

"The Church was organized, Nov 13th, 1830, and originally consisted of twenty-five members, . . . "

[McPhail (1865)].

Fitch, Gibson and McPhail seem to be in the minority when they say that the church was organized in 1830.

McPhail writes that

"Two of these original members of the church, Ebenezer Muir and James Milne, were deacons of the church and still alive . . ."

when he wrote his history of the church in 1865. They were presumably two of his sources.

As a young sailor, John Gilmore had been in Montreal in 1808. He studied to be a Baptist minister at Bradford, England, in 1820 before becoming a supply minister in Greenock, Scotland, and a preacher to sailors on a Bethel ship. There, Ebenezer Muir met Gilmore and told him he [Muir] was about to sail to Montreal. Gilmore replied:

"Should you find any believers there . . . let me know how you get on, and I may come and preach to you."

[McPhail (1865)].

Ebenezer Muir arrived in Montreal, in 1820, which was then a settlement of about 20,000, close to the harbour. There were few Protestant churches, and no Baptist church. In that year a number of Baptists in the city began meeting in Willow Cottage, the residence of Mr Muir, on St. Monique Street, just below the present Bonaventure Hotel. Although the city's core was a French-speaking Roman Catholic population, it was attracting many British immigrants because of its flourishing trade and commerce [Loutit, First Baptist Church in Montreal, 1981].

In 1829, these Baptists "attended the ministry of Mr Denham for some months . . . in the school-room in which the congregation were in the habit of meeting." [Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta, Montreal, 1839, p120].

In the autumn of 1829, John Edwards of Clarence visited Britain to induce Ministers to come to Canada. In January, 1830, he visited Gilmore and handed him a letter from Ebenezer Muir, reminding Gilmore of his promise to come to Montreal. Gilmore laughed at the proposal, but by the first of August of that year, Gilmore and his family were on a boat sailing to Montreal, arriving on the 7th September, and preaching in Bruce's school-room on the 11th [McPhail (1865), pp22-23]. Note that in 1830, September 11^th was a Saturday, and September 12^th was a Sunday. [Michael Bertrand, Java Perpetual Calendar, http://my.execpc.com/~mikeber/calendar.html], so McPhail, or his sources, may have been in error.

J.A. Gordon, writing in 1906, has Gilmore landing on the 10th and preaching on the 12^th [a Sunday], the same as in the memorandum at the front of the church Membership Register. Gordon says:

"On the 12th day of September of the same year, two days after landing, this pioneer missionary of God preached his first sermon to his new charge in this new land in what was then known as the Bruce School-room on McGill Street."

[Rev J.A. Gordon, History of the First Baptist Church of Montreal, 1820-1906, Montreal, 1906; Canadian Baptist Archives.]

Gordon continues:

In the following month [October 1830] this little band to whom he preached, vigorously set about the erection of a building and their efforts were crowned with success. 

[Rev J.A. Gordon, History of the First Baptist Church of Montreal, 1820-1906, Montreal, 1906]. However, Newton Bosworth, writing in 1839, says:

"In the spring of the following year, 1831, the building was begun; and finished and ready for public worship in September of the same year."

[Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta, Montreal, 1839, p121].

On September 25th, 1831, within one year after they resolved to arise and build, they began worship of God in their own new chapel situated on St. Helen St. and completed at the cost of £935 - 0 - 1* [£300 for the 43 x 91 foot lot and £635 for the 41 x 55 foot building**] of which  £572 - 10 - 9 were paid before its opening, leaving a debt of  £362- 9 - 4 due to two of their own members, John Fry and Ebenezer Muir, in equal parts of  £181 - 4 - 8 each.  [Rev J.A. Gordon, History of the First Baptist Church of Montreal, 1820-1906, Montreal, 1906] [*c.f. Bosworth's total of £1200, see below] [** Memorandum at the front of the church Membership Register]

Bosworth (1839) describes the chapel and shows a picture of it in his book about Montreal:

"The Chapel is built of cut stone; it is a neat and comfortable place of worship, capable of seating 400 hearers, with provision for the erection of galleries when required. The cost of its erection was £1200, including the lot of land on which it is built. There is a Sunday School supported by the Church assembling here, held in the basement story of the building, which place is likewise used as a lecture room for the week-day services. The School averages in attendance of from 50 to 60 scholars."

[Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta, Montreal, 1839, p121]

Melbourne Farm, Eastern Townships, Lower Canada

Newton Bosworth's two middle sons, Thomas and Frederick, went ahead of their parents, to scout out the new land. A Mr Fletcher, a ship-owner and neighbour of the Bosworths in London, offered a free passage to Canada for Thomas and Frederick on his ship the "Baltic Merchant", and they emigrated there in August 1833, to set up a farm for the rest of the family. Newton Bosworth, his wife Catherine, his oldest son Alfred, his daughter Catharine, and his young son Ebenezer, followed in April 1834 with the same generous help from Mr Fletcher. [Joseph Fletcher was in the chair of the founding meeting of the Baptist Canadian Missionary Society at the City of London Tavern, Tuesday 15th December 1836, see Baptist Magazine of that date. He must have been wealthy. He and John Try donated £100  0  0  to the new Society. He may well have been the one that provided the passages for the Bosworths to Canada.]

Thomas and Frederick had planned to farm at Melbourne in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada [Newton Bosworth, Journal of a Voyage across the Atlantic, 1834, Canadian Baptist Archives, McMaster University], but finding the winters too long to allow fall sowing and other farming operations, they had pushed west [actually SW] to Upper Canada. No doubt Thomas and Frederick would have found the land too rocky as well as being too far north. The Eastern Townships, including Sherbrooke, are geologically part of the Appalachian orogenic belt, which extends all down the eastern side of the Richelieu river and through the US east of Lake Champlain. The Grenville (geological) Province of the Canadian Shield, extends down the western side of the St Lawrence, as far south as an imaginary line drawn between Kingston and Orillia. The Grenville Province also extends across the St Lawrence in the area of the Thousand Islands. The St Lawrence Platform, is a more fertile area, which includes all of today’s Ontario south of this line, plus an area east of Ottawa between Brockville and Montreal, and a narrow strip northwards along the banks of the St Lawrence [http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/geology/geologicalprovinces/1]. 

In 1864, The Toronto Globe dismissed the Shield as "gaps of rough and . . . barren country which lie between us and the fertile prairies of North-Western British America" [http://www.david-kilgour.com/inside/chap03.htm], but they might as well have been comparing the land north and south of the Orillia-Kingston line. Newton Bosworth, said at the time: "It may be well, however, that we are going into the Upper Province, where the winters are milder, and the land generally superior." [Recorded by Bosworth in his "Journal of a voyage across the Atlantic, from London to Quebec, . . .", in his entry for May 25-27, 1834, and quoted by Rev Alfred J. Barker, A Pioneer Baptist Minister of Lower and Upper Canada; the Reverend Newton Bosworth, Canadian Baptist Home Missions Digest, v.6 (1963-1964), pp283-93, footnote 7].

York Mills Farm, Upper Canada

The letter from Thomas and Frederick announcing their change of plan, arrived in London after Newton Bosworth and family had already sailed. They arrived off Quebec City, in Fletcher's ship, the "Baltic Merchant", about four o'clock in the morning of the 20th of May. The trip had taken about 39 days. Here they transferred to the John Bull, which plies between Quebec and Montreal, intending get off at Three Rivers, the way to Melbourne in the Eastern Townships where their sons had settled. Arriving at Three Rivers on Thurs 22 May, 1834, they were told that their sons were no longer at Melbourne and had gone to the "Upper Province", probably to York, now Toronto. They left Three Rivers on Tues 27th May (2pm) and arrived at Montreal 2am the next day [Newton Bosworth, Journal of a voyage across the Atlantic, 1834, Canadian Baptist Archives, McMaster University].

Bosworth eventually tracked down his sons, on an excellent farm which they had rented for one year (with options to four), eight miles north of Toronto, about a mile and a half off Yonge St, near York Mills. Newton Bosworth joined the old York Mills Baptist Church there (see church minutes June 4, 1835), [F.H. Armstrong, The Rev Newton Bosworth: Pioneer Settler on Yonge Street, Ontario History, v58, #3 (1966-09-01), p165 (CHIP No 843)]. Because we do not know the name of the farm's owner, it is not possible to exactly locate this farm from land registry records. But because Bosworth attended the York Mills church, the farm is here being identifed as the York Mills farm.

Newton Bosworth would have been about 56 years old, and his wife about 52, when they arrived in Canada in May 1834. Their sons Thomas and Frederick, who arrived the previous August, would have been about 22 and 20 years old respectively at that time. The other children came with their parents, and would have been about 28 (Catharine), 26 (Alfred) and 12 (Ebenezer) when they arrived.

[ Footnote: The ages of Newton Bosworth and his immediate family when they arrived in Canada, may be calculated approximately from the following birth data, originally extracted by Kenneth Parsons from Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Births at Dr Williams's Library, 1754-1837, compiled by Norman and Vicky Uffindell, a copy of which may be found at the Cambridge Family History Society, http://www.cfhs.org.uk/library.html :

Newton Bosworth (1778-1848) was said to have been born in 1778, although his age was given as 71 when he died in Paris, CW, on July 15, 1848.  He married Catherine Paul (Dec 1781 - Jan 1877) on 1 July 1805. They had six children:

Catharine Bosworth (1806 - ), their only daughter, was born Dec 20, 1806, shortly before they moved in to Merton Hall, Cambridge in March 1807.

Alfred Bosworth MD (1808-1848), their first son, was born Dec 27, 1808 in Merton Hall, Cambridge, England. He married Sarah Howell, in St James Cathedral, Toronto, on 17 June, 1837.  He died in Paris, CW, on July 28, 1848

Thomas Newton Bosworth (1811-1877), their second son, was born April 22, 1811 in Merton Hall, Cambridge, England, and died in Paris, ON, on Dec. 23, 1877 at "64 years of age".

Frederick Bosworth (1814-1881) and his twin, William, their third and fourth sons, were born on Aug 23, 1814 in Merton Hall, Cambridge, England. William died an infant six weeks later. Frederick died back in England at Exeter on Aug. 4, 1881.  Bosworth's memorial tablet at South Street, Exeter, gives his name as "Frederic Bosworth", and states that he was born August 23rd, 1813, died August 4th, 1881.

Ebenezer Paul Bosworth (1822- 1838) their youngest son, was born Oct 10, 1822 in Llandaff House, Cambridge, and died in Montreal on December 4th, 1838.

The memorial tablet at South Street, Exeter, Baptist church, gives Frederic's life span as August 23, 1813 to August 4th, 1881]

This warmer and more fertile southern area, being part of Upper Canada, was late in being cleared and settled. The Mississaugas were the main occupiers of the north shore of Lake Ontario, when the British defeated France in the Seven Years War (1756-1763), gaining control of France's North American possesions. In the Paris Treaty of 1763, France had opted to keep Guadaloupe rather than New France, because the sugar crop made the island more valuable [http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/jarvisci/toronto/tor_buy.htm , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years_War , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763)  , http://www.histori.ca/peace/page.do?pageID=335 , http://www.bartleby.com/65/pa/Paris-Tr.html , etc]. The British were concerned to acquire the Missassaugan lands by treaty (involving purchase), since many of the native peoples had been their allies in the war. The "First Purchase" was in 1805 [http://www.missauga.ca/portal/discover/historyandheritage  ]. Once purchased, the British could survey the territory, start  building roads and settle the land. In the early 19th century the first roads were built for strategic reasons, to protect access to Lake Huron and the fur trade, as well as to encourage settlement. One of the first of these was Yonge Street connecting York to Lake Simcoe, which allowed development in the area where the Bosworths first settled.

Newton Bosworth describes life on the "York Mills" farm in a letter he wrote in Jan-Feb 1835 to his friends Beldam and Matthews in England [Armstrong,  pp163-171]:

"We have a much better house than falls to the lot of first-year settlers, a barn and stables. Rent of the whole £37.10.0 [37 pounds, 10 shillings = £37.5]; taxes a few shillings . . . We have done with less hired labour than any person around us: the wages on the Farm did not amount to 30/- [thirty shillings = £1.5 ] during the whole year. We have no servant in the house now.  . . . We have cleared five acres, in addition to what was under cultivation when we came, and sown wheat without ploughing - the harrow being amply sufficient for the first year.

We use neither beer nor wine, as they are too expensive for us at present, and the latter is not good; we have left off sugar to our tea for the same reason (expense) and do not mean to use any till we make our own in the spring, from tap of the acer saccharinium  [the silver maple, which is rather sweet, but not as useful for sugar making as the sugar maple], which grows plentifully here. On the other hand, we are fed with the "finest of wheat," have plenty of excellent beef, mutton, pork, fowls etc fed and slaughtered by ourselves, beside an overplus of various things for sale, which, however, I fancy, will not quite clear us for the first year -- Then we have milk, eggs, and an abundance of vegetables, all raised at home. Notwithstanding our restricted finances, we have a yoke of very fine oxen (better than horses for new land), two cows, a nice young horse, a new wagon, a sled for hauling wood etc and other small implements; besides various sheep, pigs etc . . . . and many hundred pounds of meat in salt or in frost for our sustenance this year.

This is certainly a fine country for industrious persons, of slender pecuniary means . . . We have fertile soil capable of producing in abundance almost every thing which does not require a tropical sun, and therefore of furnishing a man by his own cultivation with nearly everything he needs for sustenance and even for comfort, providing he either from habit desires not, or has strength of mind to relinquish, some of the elegancies and refinements of more artificial society. . . . Animals, too, succeed here admirably - and those which a farmer has to do with, both winged and quadruped, are much less subject to diseases than they were in England. . . . We have a brilliant climate; and tho’ the summer has been hotter, and the winter colder, than ever I knew in the old country, I do not know that I have ever had so much physical enjoyment in the same period in my life, as since I have been here. “ [He would have been 57 years old in 1835.]

He refers to the high cost of postage - two shillings per letter, which limits the number he can send.

“From the time of harvest we threshed out our wheat as we wanted it, by the flail; but now we employed a machine for the remainder, and a noble crop it has turned out, of as fine wheat as I ever saw. We have now enough of it for our own consumption for several years. But we had rather sell the greater part of it, if the price should suit us - at present it is rather too low; but other produce reaches a higher mark, especially potatoes, of which we grew some hundred bushels.”

In a postscript to the letter to B & M, Newton Bosworth proposes describing himself as:

"N.B. & Co., hewers of wood & drawers of water - makers of bread, butter, cheese, candles, hay, stools, bedsteads, matches, soap, cum multis allis".

F.A. Cox knew Newton Bosworth when both were at Cambridge, and again when Cox was pastor at Hackney in London. Cox and Hoby were commissioned by the Baptist Union in England to tour North America,  "the object . . . being principally to obtain information respecting their kindred community beyond the Atlantic, and to hold a representative intercourse with them . . .". In his report, [Rev F.A. Cox, D.D, LL.D., and Rev J. Hoby, D.D, The Baptists in America; a narrative of the deputation from the Baptist Union in England, to the United States and Canada, New York: Leavitt, Lord and Co, . . ., 1836, p187], Cox quotes a letter he had received from Bosworth at this time. Bosworth writes of his preaching responsibilites while on the York Mills farm near Yonge Street, and of his intention to regather a pastorless Baptist church while on the Trafalgar farm, which turned out to be for a short time before his call to Montreal; and of the need to train native Canadians to the ministry:

"I had four or five places to preach in on the Sabbath around my residence in Yonge-street, some of them belonging to the Methodists, who had broken more ground than they can cultivate; and the same, or a greater number in Dundas-street, during my short residence there [probably the farm in Trafalgar that he and Thomas bought in 1835], among the remains of a Baptist church (fifty-five members) which I was invited to take charge of, and regather. They had been looking at the states for help, and I believe are doing so again. Had I had more time, perhaps I could have done something there; but I was obliged to employ 'six days in labour', and secular matters; and this was one reason why I thought Montreal would be more eligible, as it will give me all my time to devote to the great cause. Can anything be done to aid us? I mean with regard to the colony generally. The Montreal church can support itself, and perhaps do a little beside. Mr Gilmore is now engaged in the work, having taken a house at Clarence, on the Ottawa. With respect to his plan of preparing natives for the work, I told him he had better begin, if it were but with one. I found he had done so, as you know; and I found also that two had been in his house, had gone forth, and become most useful labourers. Being about to remove, he could not, it is apparent, continue his attention to this object, but suggested that I might with advantage attend to something of the kind. Whether my other duties will permit me to undertake it, or do all that is requisite in it, I am doubtful; but it is singular and encouraging, that four or five young men, two of them independent in circumstances, and respectable in themselves and their connexions, and all but one able to support themselves, have signified to me their wish to come under a course of instruction, for the purpose of going forth to preach the gospel. But we want many  more, and we cannot expect all, or even many, can support themselves; and hence the necessity of a fund or society, to which, in the case of promising young men, recourse should be had at once. Can you or any of your friends show us how any thing can be done for these great ends? Now is the time. Lose a few years, and profaneness and infidelity will overrun the land; and it may take a century to regain our present position."

Note that Bosworth refers to Gilmore already having left Montreal ("having taken a house in Clarence"), so presumably the letter was written while Bosworth was pastor in Montreal. He refers to 4 or 5 young men wishing to be taught by him. He refers to having already preached in York Mills, and of intending to lead a congregation in Trafalgar, so that his call to lead the Montreal Baptist community was not his first pastoral experience.

The Trafalgar Farm

Trafalgar Township is in the SE corner of Halton County. Halton abuts onto Wentworth County at the Head-of-the-Lake. The townships in this region were surveyed and named in the period 1788-1793. The Home and Niagara Districts were created in 1802. Gore district was created out of the old divisions of the Home and Niagara Districts on March 22, 1816. In 1851, the north west portions of the old Gore District were combined to form the County of Brant but remained grouped with the United Counties of Wentworth and Halton. Brant County separated from the United Counties of Wentworth and Halton in 1852. In 1853, the United Counties of Wentworth and Halton were separated by legislation into the two counties of Wentworth and Halton. [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/wentworth/twps.html]. Bosworth purchased his farms in Trafalgar before this separation, so the purchase was registered as in the Counties of Wentworth and Halton, the registration office being in Dundas at that time.

"The Halton townships were surveyed immediately after the land purchases of 1805 and 1818. South of Dundas Street, the old French seigniorial type narrow 120 acre lots were created. In 1819, north of Dundas Street, the new "double front" survey method divided the area into wide 200 acre lots. In 1806 and 1818, the Mississauga Indians who had previously controlled most of southern Ontario, sold the extensive lands, known as the Mississauga Tract, comprising much of present day Halton, to the British. In 1820, they surrendered their last fishery reserves in Halton, at the mouths of the Twelve and Sixteen Mile Creeks." [http://www.region.halton.on.ca/museum/Exhibits/HaltonsHistory/changingpop.htm ]

Dundas Street was another of the earliest roads in Upper Canada (the others being Yonge Street and Kingston Road), originally connecting Dundas (at the head of the lake) to London, allowing access to Lake Huron via the Thames River, Lake St Clair, and the Saint Clair River. When Governor Simcoe changed his mind about making London the provincial capital, and instead moved it to York, Dundas Street was extended in the opposite direction, eastward to York, after the Mississauga Tract purchases of 1806 and 1818. The Town of York was incorporated as the City of Toronto in March, 1834 [F.H. Armstrong, p167, footnote 8], the same year that Bosworth's sons arrived in Canada.

These early roads were not easy to travel along. They were originally barely more than clearings in the forest. When the first section of Dundas Street (Dundas to London) was abandoned in 1794, "within months, this primitive single-lane pathway began to grow over again and revert to forest." [Wray and Green, Dundas Street, Waterdown, 1793-1993, http://www.ourroots.ca/e/toc.asp?id=6122 ]. Dundas Street, Yonge Street and Kingston Road, were dirt roads. Macadamization (tarmac) of these roads did not start until 1833, and then only to the edge of Toronto.  The cost of these improvements were paid for with tolls. The Yonge Street Toll Gate, or Turnpike, at what is now Bloor Street, collected tolls of £850 in 1836, a considerable sum for a pioneer community  [F.H. Armstrong, p168, footnotes 13, 14].  Dundas Street was obstructed by the ravines cut by the many creeks and rivers flowing into Lake Ontario (Etobicoke and Credit rivers, and Sixteen Mile Creek, for example).

Trafalgar Township's 7th line (a north-south road to Oakville, now called Trafalgar Road) was built in 1831.  By 1839 the traffic coming down to Oakville's port from the north was so heavy that it was decided to improve the 7th Line by "planking" the road from Oakville to Post's Corners (at Dundas Street) [Michelle Knoll , Historical Information on Ward 5 Communities, http://www.jeffknoll.ca/history.php].

The early concessions in Halton County were defined in terms of the only major road at the time, Dundas Street, which basically followed the north shore of Lake Ontario at a distance of about 300 chains (about 3.75 miles) from the shore. In the Halton area, the lake shore, and thus Dundas Street, is at an angle of about 45 degrees from north (NE to SW). The concessions closest to the lake (3S to 2N of Dundas) are 100 chains wide, and run parallel to Dundas Street. Within each of these concessions, the lots run perpendicular to the concession lines, and are 100 chains long by 20 chains wide. Since an acre is 10 square chains, each lot is exactly 200 acres.

In the letter to his friends Beldam and Matthews in England, Bosworth describes a long conversation he had with the Governor Sir John Colborne (Lt-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828-36) in the summer of 1834, a map lying before them, on the most eligible spots for settlement. He followed his Excellency's suggestion soon afterwards, and went with his son Thomas to explore some parts of the country he had pointed out to them. Later in this letter he writes of the farms he had just bought in Trafalgar township:

" . . . . As land in the vicinity of the capital is too dear for us to purchase a sufficient quantity with our scanty means, we have long been looking about for a more eligible scite [as he spells it], and have at length purchased two farms contiguous to each other, on Dundas Street, about 35 miles from this* -- and to which we shall probably remove in the course of the year. . . . . Our new farms are partly cleared and already sown for the next crop. . . . Our new situation will be much nearer to two  good markets for the sale of produce, than we are now to one. The first of these is the rising village of Oakville on the shore of Lake Ontario, between York and Hamilton; and where a great deal of business is already doing. The other is, the mouth of the river Credit [Port Credit**] on the same Lake, where a fine harbour is in preparation. . . . ." 

[* Bosworth was writing from his rented farm ("this") in York Mills. Trafalgar is about 35 miles from York Mills via Yonge and Dundas streets.

** The Credit River and Port Credit are not in Halton County, but rather in the neighbouring County of Peel, to the east, in the Township of Toronto. The Township of Trafalgar being in the SE corner of Halton County, borders onto the Township of Toronto (nowhere near the city of Toronto). The latter township extends as far east as the Etobicoke River. Today, the village of Port Credit, and the Credit Valley have been absorbed into the city of Mississauga.]

Land registration records show that the farms bought by Bosworth in 1835, and to which he returned in 1839 after four years in Montreal, were on Lot 20, Concession 2 North of Dundas Street, in Trafalgar township, in the county of Halton, in the district of Gore.  In 1835 when Bosworth bought his farms, Halton and Wentworth were United Counties under a single registrar based in Dundas, and Brant county had not been formed. Bosworth described his farm as being on Dundas Street, but in fact it was in the second concession north of Dundas, about 150 chains (66x150 = 9,900 feet =1.875mile) from this road.

The original Patent for the 200 acre lot 20 of "Concession 2 North of Dundas" was granted on 31 October 1809 to Jacob Hoffman or Huffman. He sold half of the lot to James Finch in April 1816, and the remaining half to John Finch in December 1823.

Samuel Finch sold the rear* 50 acres of lot 20 to Newton Bosworth on 12 Feb 1835, see Memorial 367 in Copy Book I.

Samuel Finch sold the adjacent 50 acres of lot 20 to Thomas E. Fitgerald in 8 March 1833 who sold it to Newton Bosworth on 25 February 1835, see Memorial 293 in Copy Book I.

In the same year (28 Apr 1835), John Finch sold the front of the lot to Thomas Sheldon (?).

[* "rear" is a term commonly used in this period, to refer to the half of a township, concession or lot furthest from a river. The "front" would refer to the half fronting onto the river.]

Thus Bosworth acquired two farms totalling 100 acres in early 1835, which he retained until his call to Woodstock in 1842.

Bosworth sold the 100 acres of his farm at Trafalgar to Andrew Biggar* [* Bosworth spells his name "Bigger" in his diary. The spelling in the Land Registration records looks like "Biggar"] on 5 November 1842 for £350, but allowed Biggar a mortgage for £150 on the same date, see Memorials 353 and 70 in Book O, respectively.

Newton Bosworth kept Debit-Credit Accounts of Andrew Bigger's mortgage payments to him, in his diary. One is dated 5 Nov 1844, and another is dated 4 June 1845 [Canadian Baptist Archives, Newton Bosworth Diary, 1843-47, "microfiche" sheet 4, frames 2 and 3; sheet 16, frame 7]. There is also a letter to Andrew Bigger, dated 12 Jan 1844, and a note to Bigger dated Paris, 5 June, 1845, in Bosworth's Diary [Canadian Baptist Archives, Newton Bosworth Diary, 1843-47, "microfiche" sheet 16, frames 4-5]. Note that "Dr" at the top of the page is an accounting term for the debit side of an accounting sheet. Andrew Bigger was a farmer, not a doctor.  The left hand columns of the page are headed Dr (debit), the right hand side columns are headed Cr (credit). Bigger's balance due on 5 Nov 1844 was £75  19s  4d.

The mortgage was discharged by Biggar on 21 Aug 1845, see Memorial 188 in Book P. Newton Bosworth notes in his diary that he and Thomas visited Mr Bigger and his father at Ancaster on Thursday 21 August 1845 to "settle up his account for the purchase in Trafalgar". The same day (21 Aug 1845) Andrew Biggar and his wife sold these same 100 acres to John Askin. John Askin is shown still the owner of lots 20 and 19 on the 1877 map of Trafalgar township [Pope's, Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Walker and Miles].

Lot 20 is split almost exactly in half by the ravine formed by Sixteen Mile Creek, so named because is mouth is 16 miles from the Head of the Lake. This waterway flows west as far as about lot 25, and then winds its way south to Lake Ontario, crossing Dundas Street through lot 23. Bosworth's farms appear to have been to the "rear" (ie the north-west side) of this ravine. The Bosworths therefore had to cross this ravine to get from their farms to Dundas Street directly, or take the longer route to Dundas Street along the western bank of the creek. Current satellite photos (maps.Google.com) show a small bridge in the ravine, crossing the creek, just west of lot 20.

The ravine formed by the creek, provided a hazard to travellers along Dundas Street in the 1830's, who had to descend to its bottom, and then climb up the other side. George Chalmers, who owned much of the land in the ravine, built a dam for his mill. The village was then known as Chalmers' Mill. He had a merchant shop, a storehouse, 6 houses, an ashery, a distillery, a tavern with barns and a blacksmith's shop. The village later became known as Sixteen Hollow Village. During the 1850s, there was a 3-storey inn catering to the stagecoach traffic. The journey to the village at the foot of the steep sloping sides of the ravine was notoriously dangerous. The inn must have done a roaring trade with drivers of stagecoaches and other vehicles coming in to calm their nerves after a hazardous descent and to fortify themselves for the coming ascent.

This windy road down into the Hollow, across the Sixteen Mile Creek, and back up the other side, is shown in maps as late as 1877 [Pope's Historical Atlas of Halton County, published by Walker and Miles]. The first dependable bridge to carry Dundas Street over Sixteen Mile Creek was an 88 foot metal bridge built in 1885. The first concrete high level bridge spanned the ravine in 1921, and the old tortuous road to the village was closed in 1922. The present bridge was built in 1960 [Sixteen Mile Creek Panel 4: Sixteen Hollow 1820-1880, Nov 2000, rev 13. http://www.oakvilletrails.com/16mile_e4.htm].

Sixteen Mile Creek and Dundas Street figure prominently in the escape of William Lyon Mackenzie, following the defeat of his rebels at Montgomery's Tavern, during the Upper Canada Rebellion of December 1837. Thomas and Frederick Bosworth were living on the farm less than 2 miles away at this time. Newton Bosworth and the rest of the family were in Montreal. Colonel Chalmers' militia were called out during this rebellion. Mackenzie, hotly pursued by the militia, escaped capture by crossing the Sixteen above the dam, up to their necks in the water one bitterly cold December night.

Mackenzie described his escape across the Sixteen Mile Creek, on Dec 7, 1837, as follows:

After making his way to the farm of a Mr Comfort :

"Mr Comfort was an American by birth, but a resident of Canada. I asked his wife for some bread and cheese, while a young Irishman in his employ was harnessing up a wagon for our use. She insisted on our staying for dine, which we did. Mr Comfort knew nothing of the intended revolt, and had taken no part in it, but he assured me that no fear of consequences should prevent him from being a friend in the hour of danger.* "

After conversing with a number of people there, not one of whom said an unkind word to us, my companion and I got into the wagon and the young Emeralder drove us down the Streetsville road, through the Credit Village (Springfield) in broad daylight, and along Dundas Street, bills being then duly posted for my apprehension, and I not yet out of the county which I had been seven times chosen by its freeholders to represent.

Yet, though known to everybody, we proceeded a long way west before danger approached. At length, however, we were hotly pursued by a party of mounted troops; our driver became alarmed, and with reason, and I took the reins and pushed onward at full speed over a rough, hard-frozen road, without snow. Our pursuers, nevertheless, gained on us, and when near the Sixteen-Mile Creek, we ascertained that my countryman, Col Chalmers  [both Chalmers and Mackenzie were born in Scotland], had a party guarding the bridge. The creek swells up at times into a rapid river; it was now swollen by the November rains. What was to be done? Young W____ [Wilcox] and I jumped from the wagon, made toward the forest, asked a laborer the road to Esquesing to put our pursuers off our track, and were soon in the thickest of the patch of woods near the deep ravine, in which flows the creek named and numbered arithmetically as the Sixteen.

"The men in chase came up with our driver almost immediately after we left, took him prisoner, seized his team, gave the alarm to all the Tories and Orangemen in that part of Trafalgar, and in an hour or thereabouts, we were annoyed by the reports of rifles and the barking of dogs near by the place where we were hidden.

"Some who saw me at Comfort's Mills went and told the armed Tories of Streeetsville, who instantly went to the worthy man's house, insulted and threatened his intrepid and true-hearted wife,* proposed to make a bonfire of his premises, handcuffed and chained him, threw him in a wagon, and dragged him off to Toronto jail and, as they said, to the gallows.

He lay long in prison untried, and was only released to find his excellent wife (who had been in the family way) in her grave, the victim of that system of persecution and terror which often classes men in America, as in Europe, not according to their personal deserts, but with reference to their politics, birth-place, faction, or religious profession.

"Our Irish driver had a kind heart. When I was exhibited by authority in the prison at Rochester, he came across to see me. He had been in the service of Judge Jones and others. I was ill of intermittent fever at the time, owing to close confinement and the swamp around me, and could only express the gratitude I felt for past acts of good will.

"Trafalgar was a hot-bed of Orangeism, and as I had always set my face against it, and British nativeism, I could hope for no friendship or favor, if here apprehended. There was but one chance for escape, however, surrounded as we were -- for the young man had refused to leave me -- and that was to stem the stream, and cross the swollen creek. We accordingly stripped ourselves naked, and with the surface ice beating against us, and holding our garments over our heads, in a bitter cold December night, buffeted the current, and were soon up to our necks. I hit my foot against a stone, let fall some of my clothes, (which my companion caught,) and cried aloud with pain. The cold in that stream caused me the most cruel and intense sensation of pain I ever endured, but we got through, though with a better chance for drowning, and the frozen sand on the bank seemed to warm our feet when we once more trod on it.

"In an hour and a half we were under the hospitable roof of one of the innumerable agricultural friends I could then count in the country. I had a supply of dry flannels, and food, and an hour's rest, and have often wished since, (not to embark again on the tempestuous ocean of politics), but that I might have an opportunity to express my grateful feelings to those who proved my faithful friends in the hour when most required."

 [This account is taken from Charles Lindsey, William Lyon Mackenzie, Toronto: Randall, 1862; without the author's comments. For the full account by Lindsey, with his comments, see Appendix B.11 - Charles Lindsey].

Michelle Knoll, in her historical article on the region [http://www.jeffknoll.ca/history.php ] adds:

"Halton legend says after crossing the creek, Mackenzie found shelter at Philip Trillers. Triller was on the east bank but the Triller family had intermarried with the Bucks and Howells who were on the west bank."

The Bosworths have another connection with the Rebellion, through Newton's son Alfred Bosworth. The rebellion was organized largely by William Lyon Mackenzie and Jesse Lloyd of Lloydtown. Lloyd trained the rebels, and Mackenzie, a printer turned politician, roused the public. Sarah Howell, of Lloydtown, married Alfred Bosworth. Their daughter, Mary, married Maj Arthur Armstrong Jr (1835-1905). Armstrong's father was the colonel in charge of the militia in Lloydtown, and it was his job to suppress the rebellion. Armstrong Jr was also in the militia, but much after the 1837 rebellion.

Bosworth, describes the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 in Lower Canada in his book on the history of Montreal, "Hochelaga Depicta" (1839) but makes no reference to the parallel rebellion in Upper Canada.

The Family Separates

No sooner than Newton Bosworth had settled on his new farm in Trafalgar in 1835, than he was called to Montreal to lead the Baptist church there. Because of this, Armstrong  [F.H. Armstrong, The Rev Newton Bosworth: Pioneer Settler on Yonge Street, p163] says that Bosworth

" . . . instead of moving to the Port Credit area as he planned, he accepted a charge in Montreal"

and thus concluded that the purchase in Trafalgar [north-west of Port Credit] was abandoned. In fact, land registry records show that Bosworth bought these farms on the 12th and the 25th Feb 1835, and did not dispose of them until 1842 when he became Pastor at the Baptist church in Woodstock.

Bosworth must have expected to be in Montreal for only a short time, since he did not sell the farms he had just bought. He left his sons Frederick and Thomas on the Trafalgar farm and they continued to farm as they had done since 1833. Newton describes his sons as "able and willing to work, and are highly pleased with agricultural employment" [Armstrong, p166].

Newton Bosworth took only his wife, daughter (Catharine) and youngest son (Ebenezer) to Montreal. The Membership Register of the St Helen Street Baptist church (First Baptist) in Montreal shows the Rev N Bosworth (#158), his wife (#159) and his daughter Catharine (#162), being admitted Nov 8, 1835. Their son Frederick did not become a member until Dec 31, 1843 (#341 in the Membership Roll) after moving back to Montreal from Stanbridge. There is no record of Thomas ever living in Montreal. His son Alfred's whereabouts is unknown.

However, Frederick did leave the farm in 1838 in order to become a student at the Canada Baptist College in Montreal, where he was trained by Dr Benjamin Davies. Here he “distinguished himself greatly as a scholar, and afterwards became the professional colleague of his former tutor.” [Rev T.G. Rooke, The late Dr Benjamin Davies, Baptist Magazine, Vol LXVII, September 1875, pp395-399]. As part of his training, Frederick Bosworth (and another student, Topping) toured the Eastern Townships in July and August 1840 [Baptist Magazine, October, 1840, p529]. He would later return there as a pastor. He graduated from the College in 1841. On the evening of July 1st, 1841, Bosworth was ordained ("set apart") [Canada Baptist Magazine, V5, No 2, August 1841, p42]; and in January 8, 1842, he became minister of the Baptist church in Stanbridge, in the Eastern Townships. In February, 1843, Bosworth was engaged at the Canada Baptist College "as Tutor, and in other capacities connected with the press and the pulpit."  [TT Gibson's life of Fyfe, pp73-4]. Later that year he become a member of the Montreal Baptist church on 31 December, 1843 [Membership Register, #341]. He became editor of the Canada Baptist Magazine after Dr Davies' departure in 1844. However, during the summer of 1844, Frederick spent some time in Woodstock with his family, presumably during the college summer break. His father mentions him in his diary on June 22 and July 18. Frederick preached in Paris on June 23 and again on the 30th. In 1847, back in Montreal, he was living first at the west end of St Antoine Street (just down the hill from the new College building, which was at the top of the escarpment on Guy near to Dorchester)  [McKay’s Montreal Directory, 1847], and then in 1848 in the College itself [McKay’s Montreal Directory, 1848-9].  In 1848, the year that his father (Newton Bosworth) and his brother (Alfred Bosworth, MD) became ill and died in Paris, Frederick suffered a serious illness and left Canada for a temporary sojourn in Buenos Aires to recuperate. By the time he returned, the College was in financial trouble and closed shortly afterwards. Returning to England in 1850, Frederick settled first as pastor at Dover (Salem) and subsequently at Bristol (King Street), from 1862-1868, during which time he held the position of classical tutor at Bristol Baptist College. Following a protracted illness, he removed to South Street Baptist church, Exeter, from 1868-1881, where he died Aug. 4, 1881 [information on Frederick's return to England provided by Baptist historian  Roger Hayden, the librarian of Bristol Baptist College, and the archivists at Dover (Salem), and South Street Baptist church, Exeter].

Bosworth's oldest son, Alfred, seems to have had some training somewhere (yet undiscovered) as a doctor.  He is listed in the McGill University Canadian Health Obituaries Index ("Dead Doctor Index"); his death was recorded in the British America Journal of Medicine; and he was described as "Dr Alfred Bosworth" in his obituary in The Globe [v.5, #73, Sat Sept 9, 1848, p3, col 3]. On 17 June, 1837, he married Sarah Howell, in St James Cathedral, Toronto. They had a son, Newton Alfred Bosworth in 1841. They also had a daughter, Eliza, who married Henry Penton; and another, Mary (1847-1880) who married Maj Arthur Armstrong Jr (1835-1905) of Lloydtown, the home town of her mother, Sarah.  Alfred and Sarah bought 22 Church Street in Paris on June 12, 1845, but were living in the town as early as 9 April 1844, when Newton Bosworth noted in his diary from Woodstock, that "Thomas went off for Paris to see and consult with his brother Alfred. . . ."  Alfred died in Paris in 1848 a few weeks after his father, Newton.

In the first issue of the Canada Baptist Magazine and Missionary Register [v1, #1, p17, June 1837], it was reported that:

"... In the year 1834, Mr Bosworth settled near Toronto, about eight miles north of the city. Having an opportunity of exploring a part [p18] of the surrounding district, he soon perceived the desolate state of the country.. He did what he could to supply the want, and wrote several letters to his friends in England to interest them in behalf of Canada, and particularly to suggest the formation of a Society to send out Missionaries thither. He was not then acquainted with Mr Gilmore, or with what had been doing by him and Mr Edwards; but, on coming down in the following year to Montreal to preach to the church which Mr Gilmore was about leaving, partly on account of his health, but chiefly with a view of traveling to promote the Gospel in different parts of the province, many conversations were held on the subject with Mr Gilmore, who proposed, in addition to sending out Missionaries from Britain, that an Academy should be established here to train up pious young men for the Ministry, as those who are reared in this country would be far the most eligible Missionaries for it. . . . . ."

Bosworth's youngest son Ebenezer helped with the publication of the Canada Baptist Magazine by carrying materials to the printer. The exertion of carrying these to Rollo Campbell's print shop on Place d'Armes Hill appears to have been too much for him. He died in Montreal on Tuesday December 4th, 1838. His obituary appeared in the Jan 1839 issue of the Canada Baptist Magazine:

OBITUARY. Ebenezer Paul Bosworth, Aged 16 years.

When the dear youth, whose name is here recorded, was employed in conveying materials to the printer for the last month's Magazine, he and his now mourning relatives little thought that his death would be announced in this. But so the Great Master has been pleased to ordain; and it becomes us to be silent and adore. "I opened not my mouth, because THOU didst it".

On Saturday the 1st ult.  [ultimo means the previous month], he was seized while in the city by a pain at his heart, and a difficulty of breathing. He reached home with great effort, rested a while on the sofa, and retired to bed, from which he never rose! On Tuesday the 4th, soon after seven in the morning, quite unexpectedly, but calmly and placidly, his spirit took its flight. What a solemn warning to both young and old, to "work while it is called today", and to "prepare to meet" our "God". Though for the last two days of his life, through the influence of his disorder, he was unable to converse, he had for some months past given pleasing tokens of a change of heart, and had evinced a spirit and disposition which his sorrowing parents gratefully ascribe to Divine influence. He was interred on the following Friday, ......

[Canada Baptist Magazine v2, #8, (Jan 1839) p168. The obituary continues to the end of p184.]

By the summer of 1835, Gilmore wanted to retire.  Bosworth's long-time friend, F.A. Cox, who was touring Canada at the time, recommended to John Gilmore that Bosworth be his replacement as pastor in Montreal. Cox later writes of this recommendation:

"I ventured to recommend my friend, Mr Newton Bosworth  He was at that time in the neighbourhood of Toronto. His acceptance of the proposal has afforded me great satisfaction, . . . One of my reasons for wishing to transfer Mr Bosworth from Toronto to Montreal, here develops itself. It was his adaptation, not only to occupy the particular post to which he was invited, but to assist personally in that superintendence of evangelical efforts, which I perceived were essential to the spiritual necessities of Canada."

[Cox and Hobey, The Baptists in America, 1836]

Bosworth Becomes Minister of First Baptist, Montreal

The Church Register (folio 23, left side) records:

"The Reverend Newton Bosworth having been duly chosen and elected Pastor or Minister of the Baptist Church and Congregation at Montreal, in the place and stead of the Reverend John Gilmore, who has resigned the Pastoral office.

This Book was this day delivered over to the said Reverend Newton Bosworth by the said Reverend John Gilmore to be by him used for the purpose for which the same was paraphed -- the said Reverend Newton Bosworth having previously complied with the requisition of the Law, namely, taken the oath of Allegiance, and obtained his certificate thereof from the Hon. James Reid, Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's Bench for the District of Montreal.

Montreal, 29th September, 1835.

John Gilmore              

Newton Bosworth"   

The Membership Register entry for Mr Bosworth (#158) indicates that he became pastor on September 13th, and became a church member on November 8th, 1835.

The Church Register seems to have been lost from 8 November 1837 until the election of Rev Mr Hoe as pastor on 26 September 1839. At some point it came into the possession of the civil registrars, the "Prothonotaries of the Court of King's Bench (district of Montreal)" from whom Rev Hoe received it [Church Register, folio 51]. One of the first duties of Mr Hoe was to marry Dr Benjamin Davies to Miss Eliza Try on 16 October, 1839 [Church Register, folio 52]. Rev Dr Davies came to Canada in September 1838 to become the first president of the Canada Baptist College. Eliza Try appears to have been the daughter of John Try. John Try was one of the signatories of Eliza's marriage entry. He was one of the major contributors to the Canada Baptist Missionary Society and to the new Canada Baptist College building built later on Dorchester street in 1845.

Because of the incomplete record in Church Register, it is uncertain when the early pastors were in office. The List of Pastors at the front of the church Membership Register [Folio 3 (RHS)], and in McPhail's 1865 history of the church [Rev Daniel McPhail, Churches of the Ottawa Baptist Association, 1865, Circular Letter and a Brief History of the Churches of the Association, published 1865, reprinted 1981, pp 22-25], read (in part) as follows:

                Pastors etc           Membership Register                                        McPhail's 1865 History

Rev John Gilmore              Nov 13th 1831 to Sept 1835                   13 Nov 1830 to Sept 1835.

Rev Mr Bosworth             1 year supply 1 month                            succeeded him.

Rev Mr Rice                      Sept 1836 to June 37                              became pastor in 1837.

Rev Mr Walden                 5 Mos                                                      remained only about five months.

Rev Mr Bosworth             again till 1839                                          again but resigned in 1839.

Rev Mr Hoe                       Aug 39 to June 1840                               August 1839 but resigned in June 1840.

Rev Mr J. Girdwood          May 25 1841 to April 30 1850                 June 1840 to May 25th, 1850

Rev Dr Cramp                   May to Nov '50                                        (May) until November 1850.

. . . . .

but these dates conflict with what is in the Church Register, and with the membership records of Mr Rice and Mr Walden. It seems more likely that the actual sequence of pastors was as follows:

Rev John Gilmore              Nov 13th 1831 to 29 Sept 1835

Rev Newton Bosworth,    29 September 1835 to 1 December 1836 [the last event entry signed by Bosworth];

Rev William H. Rice,          15 January 1837 to 2 July 1837 [the period of his church membership];

Rev Newton Bosworth,    July 1837 to 19 September 1837, filling in until he handed over to Mr Walden.

Rev John Hatch Walden, 19 September 1837 to Nov 8, 1837

Rev Newton Bosworth     again but resigned in April 1839, to return to Trafalgar.

   ---                                   No pastor                from April 1839 until Mr Hoe arrived in August.

Rev Mr Hoe                       August 1839 but resigned in June 1840.

Rev Mr J. Girdwood          4th July 1841 to April 30 1850 [Canada Baptist Magazine, Membership Register]

Rev Dr Cramp                   May to November 1850.

. . . . .

[For further details on what led to these conclusions, see the section Early Pastors at First Baptist, Montreal, just before the Appendices.]

The Ottawa Baptist Association was formed at Montreal in February, 1836, Bosworth being one of the founding members [Canada Baptist Magazine, v1, #1, p17, June 1837].  In April 1836, Newton Bosworth started teaching at what was to become the Canada Baptist College, until Dr Benjamin Davies' arrival in September 1838. Bosworth was also a founding member of the Canada Baptist Missionary Society formed in 1837 for the support and education of potential Baptist ministers in Canada [Canada Baptist Magazine, v1, #2, p42 (July, 1837)]. He was its Corresponding Secretary, which involved writing many letters to the British Baptists pleading for support of the College and for ministers and missionaries to be sent to Canada from England. The salaries of the College Presidents (Davies, and later Cramp) were paid for by the British Baptists, but all other costs, including supporting most of the students, was funded by the Canada Baptist Missionary Society.

Thus Bosworth's time was spent being the pastor of the Montreal church, teaching at the Canada Baptist College (until 1838), and writing to the English Baptists for help.

On October 15, 1837, Newton Bosworth delivered a lecture entitled:

"The Aspect and Influence of Christianity upon the Commercial Character: a discourse."

which was also published in the same year by Bosworth's friend, William Grieg, in Montreal. The copy in the Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster was apparently given to the Rev. John Gilmour by Bosworth, and is signed:

"To the Rev. John Gilmour with the author's kind regards."

In January 1839, Bosworth announced his resignation from the post of Corresponding Secretary of the Canada Baptist Missionary Society:

"having been under the necessity of resigning his situation as Corresponding Secretary, owing to the extent and urgency of other pressing engagements",

[Canada Baptist Magazine, Jan 1839, v2, #8, p186, and Mar 1839, v2, #10, p222]. It was during this time that he was writing his latest book. The title page of the first edition reads:

Hochelaga Depicta

the

Early History

and

Present State

of the

City and Island of Montreal

with numerous

Illustrative Engravings

edited by

NEWTON BOSWORTH, F.R.A.S.

Montreal:

William Greig, St Paul Street

------------

MDCCCXXXIX

The main Preface, signed by Bosworth, is dated Montreal, June 1, 1839, to which is added a note indicating that the delayed publication date had allowed the inclusion in the Appendix of an account of the two rebellions in Lower Canada (1837-8 and 1839). The dedication, to the governor-general, Sir John Colborne, is dated Montreal, 1st July, 1839.

The idea for the book was suggested to Bosworth by his friend William Greig, the publisher of the book [Preface]. William Greig had been a member of the St Helen Street Baptist church since his baptism there on September 26 1832, and remained a member until April 28, 1844 [Membership Register, #44]. The book was popular because of its illustrations of the principal buildings of the time. It was republished several times. Facsimile reprints of the book include that by Coles, in 1974. Greig was also the original publisher of the Canada Baptist Magazine (for the Canada Baptist Missionary Society).

The book runs to 284 pages, and includes, in addition to some 23 plates of engravings (mostly 3 to a plate), a map of the city of Montreal based on an 1835 survey with "the new improvements to 1839". The city was then about 16,000 "French feet" wide from the "east to west". The western boundary is shown adjacent to Priests farm, which was fortified because of its isolation, and to which present day Fort street ran. (Today, only the turret towers of the original wall of the fort, have survived.) The map shows Richmond Square close to the western boundary of the city. The new Canada Baptist College, built in 1845-46 on the top of the escarpment, overlooked this square.

The second edition of Hochelaga Depicta, published by RWS MacKay in 1846, with an update addendum at the front, includes an engraving of the Canada Baptist College, and below it the following description:

The first stone of this building, which was designed by J. H. Springle, Esq., architect, was laid on the 7th of May, 1845, by John Try, Esq., (a liberal Contributor towards its erection,) and it will be completed in the month of August, of the present year (1846); it is situated in the Western part of St. Antoine Suburb, on one of the most commanding sites in that vicinity, and will be seen to great advantage from all the South eastern parts of the city. The building is 120 feet long, and 57 feet wide, (exclusive of the portico which projects 13 feet, and is recessed into the building 3 feet 6 inches,) it is 4 stories high, including the basement story. The principal front is finished with Ionic pilasters, 6 of which are insulated and form the portico. The windows and doors of the principal story are finished with pilasters, trusses, and cornices, and all the other windows with plain pilasters.

On the principal floor is the College Hall, 52 x 25, and 14 feet 6 inches high, with Library, class rooms, and complete suites of apartments for the Principal of the College. The basement contains the College dining room, 36 x 20, with kitchens, laundries, bath rooms, and every other convenience of the most complete description. The second and third stories contain separate studies, and bed-rooms for 32 students, with additional bed-rooms for visitors. The whole cost of the building, exclusive of the ground, will be £7,000, and will be defrayed by voluntary contribution.

This College is erected for the education of young men for the Christian ministry, in the Baptist Denomination, and for general education.

Rev. J. M. Cramp, A. M., President, and Professor of Theology, Ecclesiastical History, and Moral Science.

Rev. F. Bosworth, A. M., Professor of Oriental Languages, Classical Literature, and Natural Science. 

The Montreal church Membership Register shows Newton Bosworth, his wife and daughter, being dismissed as members on April 30, 1839. This may have been the time they left Montreal to return to and live on the farm in Trafalgar with his son Thomas. However, the  main Preface of his book, Hochelaga Depicta, signed by Bosworth, is dated Montreal, June 1, 1839, and the dedication, to governor-general Sir John Colborne, is dated Montreal, 1st July, 1839. So he may have delayed leaving that city for a few months, in order to see the book published.

Some writers, quoting the Canada Baptist Magazine, say that Newton Bosworth toured the Eastern Townships after leaving Montreal. This magazine refers to "Bosworth and Topping". However, the British Baptist Magazine (Oct 1840, p529) makes it clear that "Bosworth and Topping" were students at the Canada Baptist College, and thus that this was Frederick Bosworth, his son, who later became Professor of Oriental Languages, Classical Literature, and Natural Science, at the college.

Back at Trafalgar (1839-1842)

On December 8th, 1839, Newton Bosworth took part in a ceremony of baptism by immersion of fourteen females and three males, members of an African Baptist congregation first organized in 1829 in Toronto led by Mr William Christian. "The public services of the day were conducted in the Chapel in Richmond-street, by  Newton Bosworth and James Mitchell. After the morning service, which ended about half-past eleven, the whole congregation, with the candidates and ministers, proceeded, in order, to the bottom of Bay-street, where a convenient place for the interesting rite was selected, near the new bathing-house." [Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 3, No 7 (Jan 1840), p162, and quoted in Rev Alfred J. Barker, A Pioneer Baptist Minister of Lower and Upper Canada; the Reverend Newton Bosworth, Canadian Baptist Home Missions Digest, v.6 (1963-1964), pp283-93].

On January 22, 1840, Newton Bosworth attended the Fifth Anniversary of the Ottawa Baptist Association and the Annual Meeting of the Canada Baptist Missionary Society held at St Andrew's, where he represented Toronto.

In the June 1840 issue of the Canada Baptist Magazine, (Vol III, No. 12), Bosworth republished an edited down version of his article about Rev Robert Hall (1764-1831), whom he had known well when both were in Cambridge. Robert Hall wrote letters to Newton Bosworth. Two have survived dated Leicester, August 26, 1806, and Leicester, April 23, 1813 [Olinthus Gregory and Joseph Belcher (eds), The Works of the Rev. Robert Hall, NY: Harper Bros, 1854, pp 228 and 246 (XIX and XXXVII)].

During the months of July and August, 1840, Newton's son Frederick Bosworth and another Canada Baptist College student, Edward Topping, were on a missionary tour of the Eastern Townships, including the township of Stanbridge where Frederick Bosworth would later became pastor. On the 1st of July, 1841, Frederick Bosworth was ordained at the Canada Baptist College [Canada Baptist Magazine, August 1, 1841, p41].

On the 2nd and 3rd of July, 1841, Newton Bosworth attended the 23rd annual meeting of the Haldimand Baptist Association which was held with the church on Yonge Street [York Mills]. Bosworth and the Yonge St pastor, John Mitchell, were appointed to examine the letter . . . (possibly the one to be presented to the legislature) [Canada Baptist Magazine, V5, No 3, September 1841, p66].

Years before, back in Cambridge, England, Newton Bosworth's friendship with Olinthus Gregory (1774-1841) began when they were young assistants in schools about four miles apart. Offered a similar post at Gregory's school in Cambridge, Newton's answer was predictable. Bosworth arrived to take up his duties in January 1800. Much later, remembering the next three years as the happiest in his life, he wrote to Mrs Gregory:

"We taught together, studied together, and walked together daily, conversing on the books we had read and all those other topics which passing events, religious experience, the sermons of Mr Hall, or our own cogitations brought abundantly before us."

When Gregory left Cambridge to take up an appointment at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in January 1803, Bosworth took over Gregory's school. Gregory died at Woolwich on the 2nd of February 1841. His widow wrote to Newton Bosworth asking for details about her husband's early life. In his reply, dated Trafalgar, 16 December 1841, from which the above is quoted, Bosworth promises to document for her his recollections of the earlier part of the life of his friend. This letter has survived [Canadian Baptist Archives, McMaster], but unfortunately, this promised documentation either was not written or has not survived.

Bosworth and his family are in the Trafalgar Township censuses of 1840, 1841 and 1842. These are the earliest censuses available for Trafalgar Twp at the Public Archives in Ottawa. No indication of their location in the township is given. Newton Bosworth purchased the Trafalgar Twp farms on lot 20, Conc 2NDS*, in Feb 1835, and sold them on 5 November 1842 [* Concession 2 north of Dundas Street. There was also a Concession 2 south of Dundas Street (2SDS), and a third Concession 2 in the northern part of Trafalgar Township].

Newton Bosworth would have been about 62 years old in 1840.

His wife, Catharine Paul, about 4 years younger, would have been about 58 years old.

His daughter, Catharine, would have been about 34 years old (born 1806), and

his son, Thomas (born April 12, 1811), would have been 29 in April. 1840

In the 1840 census, only Newton Bosworth seems to have been at home when the census taker arrived.

In the April 12, 1841 census, 2 males and 2 females are listed in the Newton Bosworth household, all over 16 years of age. No other details are given of their ages. Their religion is listed as Baptist.

In the May 11th, 1842 census, the line for the Newton Bosworth household lists:

1 married male over 60. This would have been Newton Bosworth who would have been about 64.

1 married female over 45. This would have been his wife Catharine who would have been about 60.

1 single female under 45. This would have been his daughter Catharine who would have been about 37.

1 single male under 30. This would have been his son Thomas, although in May 1842, he would have just turned 31 a few weeks earlier.

Newton Bosworth's profession is listed as Farmer, and their religion as Baptist.

Of his other children, Alfred was practicing medicine somewhere, Frederick was at the Baptist College in Montreal, and his youngest son, Ebenezer, had died earlier in Montreal on December 4th, 1838.

In the summer of 1842, Newton Bosworth visited the Tuscarora Indians near Brantford  [The Register, Vol 1, No 11, June 8, 1842].

His Call to Woodstock

Bosworth stayed at the Trafalgar farms until July 1842, when he was called to be pastor of the Baptist church in Woodstock where he was publicly recognised on the Sabbath, the 18th of Sept. [The Register, Vol 1, No 21, Thurs, November 10, 1842, p3]. On the 7th October, Bosworth took part in the ordination of Mr Edward Topping (see tour of the Eastern Townships above), at the Baptist Church in Blenheim (between Woodstock and Paris).

Sawtell [R.W. Sawtell, The History of the First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ont, 1892] describes Bosworth's time in Woodstock as follows:

"A frame chapel was erected [in Woodstock] and opened on 1836-12-27 by Elder Landon. In 1842, communion was restricted to baptised believers, and the church became Regular Baptist. On 1842-07-31, Elder Landon resigned, and a call was extended to Rev Mr Bosworth, which he accepted, and he became pastor of the church. Bosworth and his wife presented their letters to the church on 1843-02-25."

Elder Landon must have remained a friend of Bosworth, since he was a witness and signatory of the Mortgage that Bosworth made out in favour of Andrew Biggar on the Trafalgar farm. He was also at Bosworth’s funeral in 1848. [Bosworth sold the farm to Andrew Biggar on 5 Nov 1842, and signed the mortgage to him on 4 September, 1843, see Appendix C.]

The Minute Book of the First Baptist Church in Woodstock records:

On 31 July 1842, "it was proposed, and carried unanimously, that the Rev Mr Bosworth be called to the Pastoral Charge of the church".

On 28 Aug 1842, "the Rev N. Bosworth applied for church membership . . . ."

On 25 Feb 1843, "the Rev Newton Bosworth and his wife applied for church membership and was received by letter"

However by late 1844, Bosworth had a disagreement with the congregation over the rights of women to speak in the church. Sawtell describes these events thus:

"In December 1844, the pastor, Mr Bosworth, stated that from an examination of the Scriptures, it was his opinion that it was not scriptural for females to speak in public meetings, therefore, he felt it his duty on account of his difference of opinion with the church to tender his resignation as pastor. He left with the statement that "he would return to the meeting if required." After a lengthy discussion, it was resolved:

1. "That we cannot perceive passages of Scripture in the Bible to prohibit females from speaking and praying in common with the males in public meetings."

2. "That we respectfully receive the resignation of Mr Bosworth as pastor of this church, but cordially invite him to preach for as long as he is at liberty or until the church can obtain another pastor - pledging ourselves to contribute as formerly. " -- carried by a large majority.

In May 1845, the Rev N. Bosworth applied for letters of dismission for himself and his wife which were granted.

"Thus ended a two year's pastorate of a man whom we are assured was a scholar and a gentleman, as well as a pious and eloquent preacher. His cultured and student habits seemed to have unfitted him for the rural, uncultured state of society, which necessarily existed at this early period. It is natural to suppose that a people accustomed to the burning and stirring but homely and practical preaching of such evangelists as Tallman, Cross, Harris, Marks and Landon, could not so readily appreciate the highly cultured and scholastic learning as it is said that this pastor manifested in his discourses.  .... Mr Bosworth seemed to have been in advance of the environment of the times ...." [Sawtell]

Bosworth then obtained the pastorship of the fledgling Baptist church in Paris, and moved there in 1845.

Early Pastors at First Baptist, Montreal

The following attempts to sort out the errors in the List of Pastors in the List of Pastors at the front of the church Membership Register [Folio 3 (RHS)], and in McPhail's 1865 history of the church [Rev Daniel McPhail, Churches of the Ottawa Baptist Association, 1865, Circular Letter and a Brief History of the Churches of the Association, published 1865, reprinted 1981, pp 22-25], which are repeated here, for ease of reference:

                Pastors etc           Membership Register                                McPhail's 1865 History

Rev John Gilmore              Nov 13th 1831 to Sept 1835                   13 Nov 1830 to Sept 1835.

Rev Mr Bosworth             1 year supply 1 month                            succeeded him.

Rev Mr Rice                      Sept 1836 to June 37                              became pastor in 1837.

Rev Mr Walden                 5 Mos                                                      remained only about five months.

Rev Mr Bosworth             again till 1839                                          again but resigned in 1839.

Rev Mr Hoe                       Aug 39 to June 1840                               August 1839 but resigned in June 1840.

Rev Mr J. Goodwood May 25 1841 to April 30 1850                 June 1840 to May 25th, 1850

Rev Dr Cramp                   May to Nov '50                                        (May) until November 1850.

. . . . .

During the first thirteen years (1831-44), there seems to have been some instability in the leadership of the Montreal church, there having been at least six changes of pastor, and during some of that time there was no pastor. The Church Register got lost, so there were no entries. It finally got recovered from the civil authorities in September 1839, when Mr Hoe became pastor. Because of this loss, we do not have an accurate record of pastorship during this period. The differences between the list of pastors at the front of the Membership Register, and the entries, and lack of entries, in the Church Register, produce a confusing record from September 1835 until September 1839.

For the first four years (Nov 13, 1831 until Sept 29, 1835), Mr Gilmore provided stable leadership. A full page in the Church Register [folio 23, left] describes the election of Rev Newton Bosworth as Pastor on 29 September, 1835, and the handing over from John Gilmore to Newton Bosworth on that date, with both their signatures. Bosworth may not have been resident in Montreal at that time, since he does not become a member of the church until 8 Nov 1835 [Membership Register entry #158]. But from 15 January, 1836 [folio 23, right] until 1 December, 1836 [folio 40], every entry in the Church Register is signed "Newton Bosworth, Baptist Minister". December 1st, 1836, is the last entry signed by Newton Bosworth in the Church Register before he handed over to Rev Walden. There is a gap between 1 December 1836 until 19 September 1837, when Walden became pastor. Was the Church register ignored or lost during this period?

Barker says of Newton Bosworth

"In 1835 he accepted a call to Lower Canada where he became minister of the St Helen Street Church, Montreal, and remained there [ie as minister] until October 1837."

[Rev Alfred J. Barker, A Pioneer Baptist Minister of Lower and Upper Canada; the Reverend Newton Bosworth, Canadian Baptist Home Missions Digest, v.6 (1963-1964), p284].

In the following folio of the Church Register [Church Register, folio 41], there is a detailed record on the occasion when Newton Bosworth handed over the pastorship to the Rev John Hatch Walden on 19 September, 1837. Mr Walden had become a member 2 days previously on 17 September, 1837. The last event entry signed by Walden in the Church Register was on 8 November, 1837 [Melissa Richer, CBA, email 2005-07-25], which was also the date he was dismissed from membership of the church [Membership Register entry #216]. Thus it would appear that Walden was pastor for a period of less than 2 months, in contrast to the "5 months" shown in the List of Pastors [Membership Register] and in McPhail's history.  There is no record in the Church Register of Mr Walden handing over to anyone.

Again there is a gap of 23 months until the next entry when Mr Hoe takes over the register and the pastorship on 26 September 1839.

But what happened between 1 December 1836 (the last event entry by Bosworth) and 19 September 1837, when Walden became pastor.

William H. Rice is recorded in the List of Pastors [Membership Register] as being pastor from Sept 1836 to June 1837. But Rice did not become a church member until January 15, 1837  [Membership Register entry #202 shows W.H. Rice being received as a member on 15 January, 1837, and being dismissed on 2 July 1837]. McPhail refers to Rice being pastor in 1837, so it is possible that Rice was pastor from January 1837 until he left Montreal on 2 July 1837, and then Bosworth filled in briefly as pastor from 2 July 1837 until he passed the job over to John Hatch Walden on 19 September 1837.  There is no record in the Church Register of Rice ever being elected pastor, or of him signing any event in this register. In fact this register shows Newton Bosworth to have been pastor at least until 1 December 1836, and again in September 1837 when he handed over to Walden.

Thus Newton Bosworth's first pastorship in Montreal was either from 29th September 1835 until 19 September 1837, followed by John Hatch Walden from 19 September 1837 to Nov 8, 1837; or the sequence was:

Newton Bosworth, 29th September 1835 to 1 December 1836 [the last event entry signed by Bosworth];

William H. Rice, 15 January 1837 to 2 July 1837 [the period of his church membership];

Newton Bosworth, July 1837 to  19 September 1837;

John Hatch Walden, 19 September 1837 to Nov 8, 1837

. . . .

Perhaps this is what the entry

 "1 year supply 1 month"

means in Bosworth's first entry in the List of Pastors [front Membership Register].

Rice was present at the first General Meeting of the Canada Baptist Missionary Society which was held on "Wed 28th ult." [28 June 1837], in the Baptist Chapel, Montreal. [Missionary Register in the Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 1, No 2 (July, 1837), Canada, p42]. But he left Montreal a few days later (2 July 1837).

Rice must have been close to church founder Ebenezer Muir. He seems to have been married by the Rev. J.H. Walden to Muir's daughter, Mary Ann Muir, on 26 Sept 1837; one of Walden's first duties. This Church Register entry identifies Mr Rice as

"William H. Rice of Ogdensburg, State of New York, minister of the gospel".

. [Melissa Richer, Canadian Baptist Archives, email 2005-07-25, quoting FBC Montreal church Register, v.1, folio 42 (right)]. Note, it does not say "former pastor of this church."  If he was now from Ogdensburg, NY, then he must have already left Montreal. William and Mary Rice had a son which they named after Ebenezer Muir. The Church Register entry states that

" . . the child was born in North Covington, N.Y., on 15 August, 1840, named Ebenezer Muir Rice, issue of the marriage of Wm. H. Rice, Clergyman, and Mary Ann Muir, his wife."

It was not registered in the Montreal church Register until 16 October 1857, 10 years after Mrs Rice had died. [Melissa Richer, Canadian Baptist Archives, email 2005-07-25, quoting FBC Montreal church Register, v.2, folio 10 (right)]. She died in Chicago in1847 [Melissa Richer, CBA, email 2005-08-16 quoting Membership Register entry #198]. The Rice’s certainly moved around.

According to the List of Pastors [front Membership Register], Newton Bosworth became pastor after Walden "again until 1839". Bosworth left the Montreal church on April 30, 1839 [Membership Register #158]. But there are no entries in the Church Register by Bosworth, or anyone else, during this period. However, it is possible that he could have filled in as pastor, any time during that period from when Mr Walden left on 8 Nov 1837, to when Mr Bosworth left the church at the end of April, 1839, if the Church Register was lost during this time. The Membership Register shows Newton Bosworth and his wife being dismissed on that date, and presumably shortly after this they left Montreal to return to their farm at Trafalgar.

After Mr Walden's last entry in the Church Register, the next entry is that recording the election of Mr Hoe as pastor [Melissa Richer, CBA, email 2005-07-25]. Thus the Church Register seems to have been lost from 8 November 1837 until the election of Rev Mr Hoe as pastor on 26 September 1839. So we have no accurate record of who were the pastors during this nearly 23 month period. At some point the Register came into the possession of the civil registrars, the "Prothonotaries of the Court of King's Bench (district of Montreal)" from whom Rev Hoe received it [Melissa Richer, CBA, email 2005-07-25, quoting Church Register, folio 51].

The Missionary Register records:

"The Rev. Benaiah* Hoe, lately of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, New York, has accepted the unanimous invitation of the Montreal Baptist Church, to become their pastor. Mr Hoe entered upon his labours on Sunday, September 22 [1839]."

[Missionary Register in the Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 3, No 4 (Oct 1839), p90] [* Hoe’s own signature in the Church Register, eg vol.1, folio 52, spells his name this way. This is also the spelling printed in the Missionary Register in Canada Baptist Magazine Vol 3, No 4 (Oct 1839), p90; Vol 3, No 8 (Feb 1840), p190; and in Vol 3, No 12 (June 1840), p288. However Daniel McPhail (1865) spells his name “Beniah”.]

According to the Church Register of First Baptist, Montreal, Mr Hoe was elected "pastor or minister of the Baptist Church and Congregation at Montreal, as the successor in office of the Reverend John H. Walden" on 26 September 1839 [Melissa Richer, CBA, email 2005-07-25, quoting Church Register, folio 51].  There was no handing over.  He received the book, not from Walden, but from the Prothonotaries of the Court of King's Bench (district of Montreal). He seems to have been unaware of Bosworth's pastorship between Walden and him.

[ Webster's 1828 Dictionary says, a prothonotary in England, was an officer in the court of king's bench and common pleas. The prothonotary of the king's bench records all civil actions. In the common pleas, the prothonotaries, of which there are three, enter and enroll all declarations, pleadings, judgments, &c., make out judicial writs and exemplifications of records, enter recognizances, &c. According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, [http://www.bartleby.com/61/56/P0615600.html] , a prothonotary is the principal clerk in certain courts of law. According to The Phrontistery - A Dictionary of Obscure Words, see

[http://phrontistery.info/p.html/word?word=prothonotary] , a prothonotary is the chief registrar of a court.]

One of the first duties of Mr Hoe was to marry Dr Benjamin Davies to Miss Eliza Try on 16 October, 1839 [Church Register, folio 52]. Rev Dr Davies came to Canada in September 1838 to become the first president of the Canada Baptist College. Eliza Try appears to have been the daughter of John Try. John Try was one of the signatories of Eliza's marriage entry. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Canadian Missionary Society in London, and when he emigrated to Montreal, he was one of the major contributors to the Canada Baptist Missionary Society and to the new Canada Baptist College building built later on Dorchester street in 1845.

Hoe was Corresponding Secretary for the Canada Baptist Missionary Society for the year 1840 [Missionary Register in Canada Baptist Magazine, Vol 3, No 8 (Feb 1840), p190]

After only 9 months as pastor, Mr Hoe resigned in June 1840. This was announced in the Missionary Register:

The Rev. Benaiah Hoe has resigned his pastoral charge of the Baptist Church in this city; and will, with his family, sail for London in the ship Douglas about the 10th instant [June, 1840]. . . . .

[Missionary Register in the Canada Baptist Magazine and Missionary Register, Vol 3, No 12 (June 1840), p288]

and this date is confirmed in the List of Pastors at the front of the Membership Register.

There seems to have been no pastor of First Baptist from June 1840 until the arrival of Rev John Girdwood on May 25, 1841. [Membership Register #258 lists his admission on that date, and the List of Pastors says he was pastor also from that date.]

He may have become a member on that date, but the Missionary Register  records that

"On Lord's day the 4th July [1841], the Rev J. Girdwood was publicly recognised as the Pastor of the Baptist Church, Montreal . . . "

and that Girdwood accepted. [Missionary Register in The Canada Baptist Magazine and , V5, No 2, August 1841, p41]

There was a mass exodus of 40 members from the church in 1847 [Melissa Richer in email dated 2005-08-16, listing those in the Membership Register who were dismissed that year]. Mr Girdwood left the church on April 30, 1850.

The Rev John Mocket Cramp, DD (1796-1881), became pastor of the Montreal church from May to Nov 1850. He had been the President of the Canada Baptist College from 1844 until its failure in 1849. He had also been editor of the Montreal Register (until his resignation there in May, 1849), of the Colonial Protestant, and of the Pilot [Rev. T.A. Higgins, Life of John Mocket Cramp, Montreal: Drysdale, 1887, p103]. He was one of the 40 members who broke away from the St Helen Street church (AKA First Baptist, Montreal) in 1847 [church Membership Register]. Of these, only two returned to First Baptist, Dr Cramp on June 2, 1849 [Membership Register #428], and Thomas D. Reed, in Jan 1853.   Dr Cramp left the Montreal church again on July 25, 1851 [Membership Register #428] and moved to Nova Scotia to assume the Presidency of Acadia College [Higgins, p110].

Newton Bosworth seems to have been frustrated by the lack of reliable recording of births and deaths [Church Registers easily got lost, and were not readily accessible to everyone]. In December, 1844, Newton Bosworth, as president of the Canada Baptist Union, presented a petition to legislative assembly seeking a law for the general registration of births and deaths. [The Register, Montreal Thur December 19, 1844, v3, No 51, p2, cols 3-4; The Register, Montreal Thur December 12, 1844, v3, No 50, p3, col1, bottom].  For details, see Appendix A.3.