History

The original church was built in 1841 at the corner of Notre Dame and Voltigueurs Streets and was financed by Thomas Molson, the owner of a brewery and a steamship that plied between Montreal and Quebec City. Included in the  complex he constructed were eight houses and Molson lived at #1. Molson was anxious that his workers’ spiritual welfare should be cared for so he also financed the salary of the first Rector for 15 years. The church grew and flourished until July 1852 when a fire lasting two days destroyed the whole complex as well as city blocks from the centre of the city as far east as Papineau Boulevard.

The Bishop of Quebec requested that the new church be consecrated and controlled by Synod. Molson refused on the grounds that the working population was transient and that the mobility of the population should be taken into consideration, so the Bishop built his own church, St. Luc’s and Molson rebuilt his church on the original site. Worship was a mixture of Anglicanism and Wesleyanism.

In 1861 St. Thomas’ became a Garrison church as the nearby residences (Molson Terrace) were taken over by British troops here to defend Atlantic Canada.The parish records for the period are stored in the British War Office.

St.Thomas’ Church is the only church under private patronage. When Molson died in 1863 he stipulated in his will that “his church was given to the Church of England to be held by them forever, the right of the patronage of the rector to remain with the family forever.”  When the war ended the church was renovated and officially consecrated in 1866. At last the church was under the jurisdiction of Synod.

As the area around the Molson Brewery became industrialized  the population shifted northward. The church was demolished in 1906 and rebuilt on the Corner of Sherbrooke St. and Delormier Ave. It contained the best clocks and bells in the City of Montreal, inherited from its former buildings.

St. Thomas’ was particularly well cared for by its rectors during the depression and war years; in 1941 Rev. Paddy Sinnamon, who was commissioned to serve in World War II as the Chaplain to the Grenadiers, was given special leave to attend the 100th anniversary celebration of the church.

Shortly after the war ended another dilemma arose: the  structure of the church and in particular its foundations were plagued by the construction of the Jacques Cartier Bridge. It was decided to sell the church and the monies realized used to purchase the land on which the present church stands. Notre-Dame-de-Grace was opening up and the Federal Government was building housing for returning veterans and their families. A church was needed to support the area in central NDG.  The cornerstone was laid by John Molson on September 29, 1951. The west window is dedicated to Rev. Sinnamon who died in 1970. He served at St. Thomas’ for 38 years, the longest serving rector; he was the Archdeacon of Montreal and the Anglican Representative of the Christian Pavilion committee for Expo 67.