St Andrews Church in Toronto

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Toronto was established in 1876 as a Scottish kirk building in Canada, though the congregation had already existed from 1830. From the church's official website at www.standrewstoronto.org/church_info.htm comes the following snippet from its history:

The present building was opened for worship in 1876. At that time the King and Simcoe Streets location was a busy place and most of the congregation lived within easy walking distance of the church. Across the street stood Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Upper Canada College stood on a second corner and on a third was a popular tavern. With St. Andrew's, the four corners were known locally as Legislation, Education, Damnation and Salvation!!

It is worth knowing if you have Canadian Presbyterian roots that many congregations of the church merged with the Methodists and the Congregationalists in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada - there is more on this aspect of Canadian church history at www.united-church.ca/history/overview/brief. Both the Presbyterian and United Church denominations have separate archive collections. For more information on these in Toronto contact the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society at www.torontofamilyhistory.org.

I managed to make a quick visit to the church on Monday of this week, and the following are a few snaps!

With thanks to Dave Fenwick for taking me there! :)

Chris

Balancing the books

Ever wondered what our ancestors earned? The following is an example of an agricultural labourer's income and expenditure, as recorded in the First Statistical Account for Auchterarder in Perthshire, 1790s. The family consists of a husband and wife, and seven children:

INCOME

Man - 1s. per day for 8 months, and 8d for remainder........£13 17 0

Mother and eldest girl by spinning, 1s 6d per week.............£3 18 0

Eldest boy herding cattle.......................................................£0 18 0

Produce of his acre of ground-

6 firlots of oats, at 13s 6d.....................................................£1 0 3

4 bolls of barley, at 14s.........................................................£2 16 0

6 bolls of potatoes, at 6s 6d..................................................£1 6 0

Sold a calf..............................................................................£0 7 0

TOTAL INCOME..................................................................£24 2s 3d

EXPENDITURE

Rent of house and land, seed & management....................£4 5 0

Cow's grass in summer, 10s; straw in winter 6s................£0 16 0

Fuel, £1 5s; 8 lbs soap, 4s 8d................................................£1 9 8

8 1/2 bolls of oatmeal............................................................£6 3 3

4 bolls of barley meal............................................................£1 17 4

Butcher meat, 18s; 4 pks salt 3s 4d....................................£1 1 4

3 pints lamp oil, 3s 6d; candles 2s 2d..................................£0 5 8

2 stones cheese (cow yielded milk and butter).....................£0 8 0

Molasses for beer, 4s 6d; groats & barley 7s.......................£0 11 6

Potatoes produced and consumed.......................................£1 6 0

Whisky, small beer, & wheaten bread at New Year.............£0 3 4

Needles, pins, and thread.....................................................£0 0 10

Expenses in sickness.............................................................£0 15 0

Father's clothes 10s; 2 shirts, 7s; shoes 10s......................£1 7 0

2 pairs stockings 4s 6d; wear of bonnet & kerchief..............£0 5 6

Mother's clothes 4s; 1 shift, 2s 6d; 2 aprons 2s 3d...............£0 8 9

Shoes and stockings 4s; kerchief, cap, etc 3s.....................£0 7 0

Pair of shoes to each of 7 children........................................£0 14 2

Clothes to 3 youngest, 9s; to 2 next 8s; to 2 eldest 10s......£1 7 0

Shirts to youngest 2s; to 2 next 2s 6d; to 2 eldest 3s 4d.....£0 7 10

TOTAL EXPENDITURE........................................................£24 0s 2d

The Statistical Accounts of Scotland from the 1790s and 1830s/40s provide all sorts of useful information on the environments where our ancestors lived, and can be viewed freely at http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/sas/sas.asp?action=public&passback=

Chris