St. James Church 1826

Photo by Alan L Brown - June 13, 2004

Photo by Alan L Brown - July 8, 2007

Plaque Location

The County of Leeds and Grenville
The Township of Augusta
In Maitland, on the east side of Church Street, street number 20, north of King Street (County Road 2)

Plaque Text

Among Augusta Township's earliest settlers were a number of Anglican Loyalists who, by 1785, were holding services in private houses. The first resident missionary, the Reverend John Bethune, was appointed to this area in 1814. Reverend Robert Blakey served the parish from 1821 until his death in 1858, and during his incumbency construction of St. James Church was begun in 1826. A pleasing example of early Gothic Revival architecture, this structure was built by John Shephard, a local mason, on land donated by a parishioner, George Longely. It was consecrated in 1830 by the Rt. Rev. Charles James Stewart, Bishop of Quebec, and it remains largely unaltered from its original design.