Records relating to
St. Peter’s Anglican church, Dunwich
Compiled by JamesMcCallum
Formatted for the web by BruceC.JohnsonJr.
Updated 7 January 2008
Copyright by the Ontario Genealogical Society, Elgin County Branch 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microform reproduction, recording, or otherwise – without prior permission of the publisher.
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Records relating to St. Peter’s church, Dunwich
The following items are printed in a history of St. Peter’s church written in 1928, called “A Century of Service 1827-1928″
The early records printed in the booklet are from the register of Rev. Charles James Stewart, who was a travelling missionary and visited Dunwich several times, conducting baptisms and other church sacraments.
The history states: “Dr. Stewart kept records of all services on his travels, and in later years when churches had been built and parish registers opened, he had inserted in them a list of all baptisms and other services which he had performed in that district of parish. Thus in the first register of St. Thomas Church, which is also the first register of the church in Dunwich, we find the records of the following persons……”
Therefore, the records found here might also appear in the St. Thomas Church registers. There are also later entries by other ministers found in the church history booklet.
Baptized at Col. Talbot’s house on April 10, 1820, by Rev. Stewart:
Olivia PATTERSON, dau of Leslie & Lydia; sponsors Stephen BACKUS, Elizabeth and Sarah STEWART
John PEARCE, son of John & Frances; sponsors Leslie PATTERSON, Stephen BACKUS and Susannah STEWART
John DOBBYN, son of Richard & Maria; sponsors Henry DOBBYN and Martha BOBIER
Charlotte BURWELL, dau of Samuel & Hannah; sponsors Thomas TALBOT and Maria DOBBYN
Thomas BACKUS & Mary BACKUS, children of Stephen & Anne; sponsors Leslie PATTERSON, John PEARCE, Elizabeth & Sarah STEWART, John WELDON and Samuel BURWELL
Baptisms by Rev. Stewart in Dunwich on June 20, 1822:
Catherine WARNER, born May 23, 1820, dau of James & Mary; sponsors Leslie PATTERSON, Lydia PATTERSON, Thomas & Barbara MATHEWS
Hugh WARNER, born Dec. 4, 1821, son of James & Mary; sponsors Leslie PATTERSON, Lydia PATTERSON, Thomas & Barbara MATHEWS
Elizabeth DOBBYN, born May 1, 1821, dau of Richard & Maria; sponsors John M. FARLAND, Martha FARLAND and Mary STOREY
Leslie PATTERSON, born May 11, 1820, son of Leslie & Lydia; sponsors Stephen BACKUS, John M. FARLAND, Elizabeth STEWART, Sarah STEWART
Frances PATTERSON, born June 7, 1822, child of Leslie & Lydia; sponsors Stephen BACKUS, John M. FARLAND, Elizabeth STEWART, Sarah STEWART
William HILL, born Oct. 2, 1819, son of Benoni & Susannah; sponsors George HENRY & Catherine McCALLUM
Elizabeth HILL, born June 14, 1822, dau of Benoni & Susannah; sponsors George HENRY & Catherine McCALLUM
Anne COYNE, born Apr. 18, 1822, dau of Henry & Anne; sponsors parents, and Mary COYNE
Olivia BACKUS, born May 22, 1821, dau of Stephen & Anne, sponsors Walter STOREY, Mary STOREY and Elizabeth STEWART
William CRANE, born Dec. 20, 1807, son of George & Isabella; sponsors John M. FARLAND, Lydia PATTERSON, and parents
Hannah CRANE, born May 10, 1818, dau of George & Isabella; sponsors John M. FARLAND, Lydia PATTERSON, and parents
Susan CRANE, born Feb. 25, 1820, dau of George & Isabella; sponsors John M. FARLAND, Lydia PATTERSON, and parents
Jane CRANE, born Jan. 4, 1822, dau of George & Isabella; sponsors John M. FARLAND, Lydia PATTERSON, and parents
Caroline DOBBYN, dau of Henry & Eliza
Jane DOBBYN, dau of Henry & Eliza
James DOBBYN, son of Henry & Eliza
Baptisms conducted by Rev. Stewart in Dunwich on June 27, 1822:
Sally McCALLUM, born Jan. 9, 1820, dau of Alexander & Catherine; sponsors Archibald McINTYRE and Susannah HILL
Anne Backus PARKER, born Apr. 17, 1817, dau of John & Euphemia; sponsors Stephen & Anne BACKUS
Isaac COYNE, born June 27, 1818, son of Henry & Anne; sponsors Walter STOREY, George GIBB and Mary STOREY
Mary McCALLUM, born Nov. 19, 1820, dau of Duncan & Flora; sponsors George GIBB, Mary GIBB and Mary GRAY
First confirmation service in Elgin County, August 21, 1827, conducted by Rev. Stewart at Colonel Patterson’s house:
William PEARCE
Richard PEARCE
Leslie PEARCE
Catharine PEARCE
Mary Ann PEARCE
Stephen BACKUS
Anne BACKUS
Andrew BACKUS
Anne MOORHOUSE
Lydia PATTERSON
Walter PATTERSON
Mary PATTERSON
Hannah PATTERSON
Joseph PATTERSON
Charles CRANE
Benjamin SIDDALL
Martha FARLAND
Quoting from “A Century of Service”:
“Two days later [Aug. 23, 1827], Bishop Stewart held confirmation in St. Thomas church, when forty-four persons were confirmed. This church had been built in 1824, and Alexander Mackintosh was rector, his parish extending north into Middlesex, east to Norfolk, all of Elgin, and west into Kent. He held service in Col. Patterson’s house whenever passing through Dunwich on his long parochial rides, as horseback was practically the only means of travelling from place to place. The register bears this inscription: ‘This register is presented to the mission of St. Thomas by the Rev. A. Mackintosh, its first missionary, St. Thomas, July 20th 1824′
Strange to say, the first three entries are a baptism, a marriage and a burial, the latter entry reading, July 31st 1824; Burial – Maria Moorhouse, a native of Ireland, aged three years, was interred by me this day. A. Mackintosh.
This child was drowned at Port Stanley as her parents, seven brothers and sisters were disembarking from their long and tedious voyage from Ireland to Canada. Several of this family afterwards played an important part in the work of the church in Dunwich.
Baptisms, August 8, 1824 by Rev. Mackintosh:
children of Benajmin WILLSON and Sarah STOREY: Walter, Robert, Mary Anne. Benjamin Willson was a son of Crowell Willson, a U.E. Loyalist who settled in the Niagara district about 1787.
Baptisms by Rev. Mackintosh on a journey through Dunwich:
Sarah Ann BACKUS, bap Sept. 8, 1824, dau of Stephen & Anne; sponsors William, Frances and Catharine PEARCE
Mary Ann FARLAND, bap Sept. 8, 1824, dau of John Miles & Martha; sponsors Leslie & Lydia PATTERSON and Maria DOBBYN
Philip HENRY, bap Sept. 9, 1824, son of George & Mary; sponsors Walter & Mary STOREY and Joseph PATTERSON
William FORD, Mary FORD, Anne FORD, Robert FORD, David FORD and Henry FORD, children of Thomas FORD, of Aldborough, bap Sept. 9, 1824
Archibald STEWART, Duncan STEWART and Malcolm STEWART, children of Duncan STEWART, of Aldborough, bap Sept. 9, 1824
John STEWART, Sarah STEWART, Susanah STEWART, children of Mathew STEWART of Orford, bap Sept. 10, 1824
Sept. 12, 1824 – baptism of a family of SMITH, of Chatham
Charles SIFTON, bap Sept. 26, 1824, son of Charles & Esther, of London
Lydia PATTERSON, bap May 15, 1825, dau of Leslie & Lydia; sponsors Sarah STEWART, Catharine PEARCE and Leslie PEARCE
Henry DOBBYN, bap May 15, 1825, son of Richard & Maria; sponsors Thomas MOORHOUSE and parents [the Moorhouses were living at Plum Point in Dunwich at this time, but soon after, both they and the Dobbyns removed to Lambton]
Elizabeth BOBIER, bap May 15, 1825, dau of Gregory & Sarah; sponsors Margaret, Sarah and Gregory BOBIER
Alexander George CRANE, bap May 15, 1825, son of George & Isabella; sponsors William, George and Isabella CRANE
Stephen BACKUS, bap June 21, 1825, infant son of Stephen & Anne
Maria FARLAND, bap Oct. 4, 1829, dau of John Miles & Martha; by Rev. Edward I. Boswell
Printed in “A Century of Service” is an obituary for Mary Storey, published in “The Church”, Toronto, September 9, 1842:
DIED – On the 22nd of July, at Dunwich, at the home of her son-in-law, Mr. Stephen Backus, Mrs. Mary Storey, aged eighty-four years, after a short but severe illness. Mrs. Storey was a native of Ireland and removed to America in 1801. She was a sincere and devoted member of the Church of England, the knowledge of whose principles she took every pains during a long life to extend. It was chiefly owing to her exertions that a church was built in Dunwich. Besides giving ten acres of valuable land on which to build it, she contributed much of her means to complete it, and at her death left a liberal sum of money towards building a parsonage, which is soon to be commenced. She rejoiced that she had lived to see established in this diocese “The Church Society” as the means by which the hitherto misguided liberality of churchmen would be directed into the right channel”.
A copy of the entire church history “A Century of Service” is in the Elgin OGS library collection.