Heritage
Origins
In June of 1784, Sir John Johnston brought a group of United Empire Loyalists to Royal Township No. 2, the site of future Cornwall - and an Anglican congregation soon developed. Only the fourth Anglican church built in Upper Canada, the original church building opened for worship on January 26, 1806. In 1819 King George III formally granted the land to the Church of England in Upper Canada. The current church, the former rectory (now rented to the Tri-County Literacy Council) and the adjoining churchyard cemetery (closed since 1876) are situated on that same land.
Bishop Strachan Memorial Church
The cornerstone to the second - and current - church building was laid on June 24, 1869 and opened to worship on January 17, 1875. The current church was built in memorial to the Rt. Reverend John Strachan, former Bishop of Toronto, and a former rector of Trinity Church. During the century that followed, the church was modernized, decorated and expanded, with the parish hall being completed in 1952 and renovated in 1979.
Today
In 2018, the congregation joined the newly formed Area Parish of the St. Lawrence (St. Lawrence Parish) along with two other Anglican churches in the region - Christ Church Seaway (Long Sault) and St. John the Evangelist (Lancaster).
Former (and Current) Rectors
1784-1803 The Reverend John Stuart
The Reverend John Bryan
The Reverend James Sutherland Rudd
1803-1812 The Honourable and Right Reverend John Strachan
1813-1814 The Very Reverend John Bethune
1814-1817 The Reverend William Devereux Baldwyn
The Reverend Salter Jehoshaphat Mountain
1830-1840 The Reverend George Archbold
1840-1842 The Reverend Alexander Williams
1842-1846 The Reverend John Gerbrand Beek Lindsay
1846-1871 The Venerable Henry Patton
1871-1879 The Reverend Canon James Abraham Preston
1879-1894 The Reverend Canon Charles Biggar Pettit
1894-1906 The Reverend Robert Leckie Mulock Houston
1906-1914 The Reverend Thomas James Stiles
1914-1933 The Venerable William Netten
1933-1940 The Venerable John Edwin Lindsay
1948-1958 The Venerable Harold Arthur Edmund Clarke
1958-1967 The Venerable William Douglas McLaren Christie
1967-1972 The Venerable Wilfred Hankin Bradley
1972-1977 The Venerable Philip Sidney Irwin
1977-1985 The Reverend Canon Bain Peever
1985-1988 The Reverend Bruce Pellegrin
1988-1991 The Reverend Fred Allen
1991-1996 The Reverend Wayne Thomas
1996-2007 The Reverend Ross Moulton
2008-2018 The Venerable Frank Kirby
2018-2020 †The Reverend Patrick Stevens
2020-2023 †The Venerable Peter Crosby
2023- †The Reverend Adam Joseph Brown
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†Indicates a Rector of the Area Parish of the Saint Lawrence