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