When
the number of people attending this mission's services increased, and could no
longer be accommodated in the disused railcar, the Grand Trunk Railroad was
approached by a committee of St. Edward's Church with an offer to purchase a
piece of vacant land on Wellington Street near Centre, which the Railroad
owned, so as to build a new church. The
General Manager of the Railroad, Mr. C.J. Brydges offered to donate this piece
of land, provided a church was to be built on it. The Bishop of Montreal gave permission and a church was
erected. The year was 1871. The church was named "Grace" after
Mr. Brydges' daughter, who later married a MacDougall and became the mother of
Harland B. MacDougall, a well-known businessperson in Montreal for many
years. Grace Church held 250 people.
In
1889 the Grand Trunk Railroad was expanding and needed the property on which
Grace Church stood. By that time, Grace
Church was finding that it was unable to accommodate the much-increased
congregation. The Railroad agreed to
buy the property for $ 20,000 and with these proceeds, and loans, four lots
were purchased at the corner of Wellington and Fortune Streets to build a
larger church. This new church was
completed in 1892, where it now stands.
MĖ. J.J. Brown, one of the best
known architect at that time, who also supervised the construction, designed
it. The new church could seat 700
people.
Interesting
facts...
The
marble altar and other notable features
In
1905, Margaret Millington, a parishioner, donated the funds to build a marble
altar, It is one of the few altars so constructed in Canadian parish churches.
The
Church has a wooden beamed ceiling, and splendid stained glass windows, now 108
years old. Just inside the main door of
the Church, and to the left, is a beautifully crafted iron spiral staircase
that leads to the tower. A false wall
now conceals this staircase. Some
members of the congregation have proposed that the staircase be exposed by
removing the narrow false wall, and its present drab paint covered by a more
fitting colour.
Photographed
ceiling
In
1971, the exposed water/heating pipes in the church hall, located in the
basement, were covered with a false ceiling.
To defray the cost of the false ceiling's tiles, the parishioners were
given the opportunity of autographing a tile at a cost of $ 5.00. As far as we
know, this autographed ceiling is unique in Canada.
Sports
Since
early in this century sports were part of the Parish life. The church was a member of a local baseball
league. In the 1920's the Church's
basketball team won the championship in the A.Y.P.A. Basketball League. In the late 40's and 50's, the Church was
represented for a number of years in the Pt.
St. Charles' Churches Softball League.
Acting
Thespians
played a very active part of Parish life for many years, starting in the early
1900's. The first attempt at dramatics
on record was called "Sweet Lavender"-a heart-throbbing drama.
