Genealogy Australia

This book was written on the order of the Presbyteries of Sydney and Inverness to, "discover and record the history of Presbyterianism on the island of Cape Breton from the time of it's introduction to the present time" - that "present time" being about 1917. The work was to be done by committee but it appears that the bulk of the work was actually done by the author, who had then been a minister in Cape Breton for about 46 years.

What a wonderfully thorough and detailed job the author made of this book. He decided to tackle the task in three parts: Part I; Individual biographies of the 19 "Pioneer" ministers who first came to the young communities of Cape Breton. (8 portraits of pioneer ministers are included.) Part 2; Descriptions of the 43 identified congregations and three "Mission Fields," in which he describes each congregation's development and provides short biographies of all their ministers. In all over 200 biographies are given. (10 portraits of early ministers are included.) Part 3: A collection of "articles" all of which relate to the establishment of the church but which didn't find a place in either Part one or Part two. (8 portraits of missionaries are included.)

The strength of the Scottish heritage inherent in the Presbyterian church in this area comes through very strongly with virtually every minister bearing a recognizably Scottish name. While this book is obviously a gold mine for anyone researching an ancestor who was a minister in the Presbyterian church it will also provide some wonderful background material for anyone whose ancestors lived in the area, because of the great influence the church had on their lives.