St. Augustine of Canterbury's Anglican Church (Whitefish Falls, Ont.) sous fonds

Custodial History: 

Accruals 2009-107 and 2009-134 transferred from Laurentian University Archives to Algoma University in May 2009 by Ken Hernden and Robin Isard.

Start Date: 
1929
Geographic Access: 
Access Restriction: 

May be restrictions on access based on the terms of the Deposit Agreement, the Diocese's Policy on Privacy and Archives. Subject to all applicable privacy legislation.

Description Level: 
End Date: 
1984
Date Range: 
1929-1984
Repro Restriction: 

May be restrictions on use based on the terms of the Deposit Agreement, the Diocese's Policy on Privacy and Archives. Subject to all applicable privacy legislation.

Conservation: 

Minor conservation performed on sous fonds.

Physical Description: 

0.26 m of textual records

Arrangement: 
Sous fonds is arranged in files.
History Biographical: 

St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church (Whitefish Falls, Ont.) was part of the Rainbow Country Anglican Parish (Espanola, Ont.).

The Whitefish Falls area was pioneered by the North West Company around 1790 and later joined with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. The companies finished the railway and withdrew from the area in 1890. The Whitefish Falls mission had established a small school around 1830, but with the company's withdrawal, the settler community was depleted and the mission's activity dwindled. The efforts were restarted between 1916 and 1917 when the mission's school as re-activated by Rev. S.H. Ferris, of Garden River, with Mr. Duncan Bell as teacher. The school was somewhat irregular of its time because it taught both settler and indigenous children. The community at Birch Island were also educated at this mission school. By 1925, the schoolhouse was in need of a new foundation. A new school was built and opened on November 1, 1937. The A.Y.P.A. (Anglican Young People's Association) initiated plans to reuse the old school building as a hall for plays, meetings, and other sorts of business, making Whitefish Falls a sort of headquarters. They held a Hallowe'en dance on October 30, 1941 with success. The school seemed to do well until it was closed in 1969; the children then went to Espanola for education.

In its early years, the mission did not have its own incumbent and it was administered to by Rev. E. Montizambert of Little Current. Services were held in the schoolhouse until plans began for a church building in 1929 and 1930. The cornerstone was laid in July 1930 by Archdeacon Burt. The first service in the church was held on February 15, 1931. St. Augustine of Canterbury was consecrated and dedicated on October 9, 1931 by Bishop Rocksborough Smith. The mission's vicarage was completed in January 1932. Prior to this, the back of the schoolhouse served as the rector's living quarters. A few years later, on December 7, 1934, the church caught fire. The community was able to extinguish the fire before much damage was done, and the church was repaired and ready for service again by Christmas.

The Anglican activity in Whitefish Falls continued and was varied. In 1942, the Summer Youth Conference Committee decided to hold the first summer camp at Whitefish Falls, from June 5th to 12th. This committee was strongly influenced by Rev. C. M. Serson of the S.S.J.E. (Society of St. John the Evangelist) and was open to the whole Alogoma Diocese. These summer camps continued regularly at Whitefish Falls until 1961, when the camp was transferred to Manitou.

In 1952, the St. Augustine mission was gifted oak seats for the church from the W.A. (Women's Auxiliary), and the International Nickel donated a chlorination system for the schoolhouse and vicarage. The A.Y.P.A. also worked on a proper ceiling for the schoolhouse's kitchen during this year, and a half acre of land was leased at the back of the property for a playground. 

St. Augustine of Canterbury joined the Rainbow Country Anglican Parish sometime between 1960 and 1971, but by 1978 the rector, Rev. Canon Lorne Sutherland, indicated that St. Augustine's building was deteriorating and in need of repairs. The church was closed and demolished shortly after.

Sources:

Scope Content: 

Sous fonds is comprised of records documenting the activities at St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church (Whitefish Falls, Ont.). Includes parish registers, Women's Auxiliary records, financial records, and youth group records.

Repository: 
aua

Manitoulin Sub-Deanery, W.A. Minutes Book

Start Date: 
1934
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1940
Date Range: 
1934-1940
Physical Description: 

1.2 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Minutes Book

Start Date: 
1941
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1948
Date Range: 
1941-1948
Physical Description: 

1.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Minutes Book

Start Date: 
1947
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1953
Date Range: 
1947-1953
Physical Description: 

1.2 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Minutes Book

Start Date: 
1953
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1959
Date Range: 
1953-1959
Physical Description: 

1.3 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Cash Book

Start Date: 
1954
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1958
Date Range: 
1954-1958
Physical Description: 

.8 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Treasurer's Book

Start Date: 
1940
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1946
Date Range: 
1940-1946
Physical Description: 

1 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Treasurer's Book

Start Date: 
1947
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1953
Date Range: 
1947-1953
Physical Description: 

1.3 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Sports Day Committee Minutes

Start Date: 
1954
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1959
Date Range: 
1954-1959
Physical Description: 

.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Camp Director's Book, Choir Schools and Church Boy's League Camps

Start Date: 
1959
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1968
Date Range: 
1959-1968
Physical Description: 

1.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Cash Book

Start Date: 
1943
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1947
Date Range: 
1943-1947
Physical Description: 

1.8 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Vestry Book

Start Date: 
1931
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1939
Date Range: 
1931-1939
Physical Description: 

1.2 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-002
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
002

Vestry Book

Start Date: 
1940
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1948
Date Range: 
1940-1948
Physical Description: 

1.3 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-002
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
002

Vestry Book

Start Date: 
1948
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1958
Date Range: 
1948-1958
Physical Description: 

1.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-002
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
002

Vestry Book

Start Date: 
1958
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1984
Date Range: 
1958-1984
Physical Description: 

1.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-107-002
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
002

Parish Register

Start Date: 
1929
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1947
Date Range: 
1929-1947
Physical Description: 

1.8 cm of textual records

Notes: 

Baptisms, 1930-1947; Confirmations, 1930-1945; Marriages, 1931-1946; Burials, 1929-1945;

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Parish Register

Start Date: 
1945
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1981
Date Range: 
1945-1981
Physical Description: 

3.8 cm of textual records

Notes: 

Baptisms, 1945-1981; Confirmations, 1947-1966; Marriages, 1947-1975; Burials, 1945-1980;

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

W.A. Cash Book

Start Date: 
1961
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1969
Date Range: 
1961-1969
Physical Description: 

.5 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Vestry Minutes

Start Date: 
1940
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1941
Date Range: 
1940-1941
Physical Description: 

.8 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Vestry Minutes

Start Date: 
1946
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1956
Date Range: 
1946-1956
Physical Description: 

1 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001

Vestry Minutes

Start Date: 
1956
Description Level: 
End Date: 
1963
Date Range: 
1956-1963
Physical Description: 

1 cm of textual records

rec_shelfloc: 
2009-134-001
Repository: 
Algoma University
Container Number: 
001