Commemoration
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. Jame Church was begun in 1826. A please example of early Gothic Revival architecture, this structure was built by John Shephard, a local mason, on land donated by a parishioner, George Longley. It was consecrated in 1830 by the Rt. Rev. Charles James Stewart, Bishop of Quebec, and it remains largely unaltered from its original design.
Background
George Longley was born in England in 1787. He arrived in Lower Canada around 1812 and was in the timber trade. He purchased land in this area in 1822 and settled in Maitland in 1826 with his wife, Ruth. He passed away in 1842.
George was one of many British immigrants who was attracted to the economic opportunities of the land which had been wilderness only a generation before.