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History
Religious
services have been held at a site at the head of the North West Arm since
1857. In that year, Dr. Charles Cogswell constructed a wooden
schoolhouse on his own property at the head of the Arm, and daily prayer
and scripture reading were introduced to the students. The first
religious services were conducted by Presbyterians.
Dr.
Cogswell was anxious that services in the Anglican Order should be
introduced. In August 1862 the first service at what would be Saint
James was conducted by the Rev. R.F. Uniacke of Saint George's Church.
In
1884, Dr. Cogswell deeded the property to the Parish of Saint Mark's
Halifax to hold title as long as the school was kept in repair and
Anglican services were conducted. Until the 1919 constitution of the
Parish of Saint James and Saint John's, services were conducted by clergy
from Saint Mark's, assisted by lay readers.
Saint
James was constituted as a separate parish in 1922. Old Saint James
was a unique structure in that it contained in its fabric the original old
schoolhouse built in 1857 and four subsequent additions which resulted in
a nave of 90 feet long and 20 feet wide.
The
present Saint James, dedicated on February 4th, 1967, and consecrated on
November 30th, 1967, incorporates within its roof structure, but as a
separate unit, the original chancel and 22 feet of the old nave.
This is now called "All Souls Chapel", and in 2001, "All
Souls Columbarium" was added to this chapel.
Rectors who
have served at Saint James:
Rev. W.T.
Townsend (1919-22)
Rev. N.
LeMoine (1922-32)
Rev. A.
Ledrew Gardner (1932-39) Rev.
W.E. Fuller (1940-42) Rev.
C.O. Holm (1942-75) Rev.
Ronald Harris (1975-97) Rev.
David Garrett, assistant (1988-95) Rev.
John Smith (1997-98) Rev.
Roderick Gillis (1998-present) |
