Baysville (Ont.)

The Lake of Bays Anglican Parish is a family of four country churches around the shore of the Lake of Bays in Muskoka. The Lake of Bays Mission officially formed in 1955. 

Two of the parish's four active churches are open year-round St. Ambrose in Baysville and St. Mary Magdalene in Dorset. St. James in Port Cunnington and St. John's in Fox Point are open in the summer (July and August).

Incumbents have included: Rev. Canon A.W. Hazlehurst (1895-1927), Rev. R.C. Warder (1927-1934), Rev. W. Ruthford Tindle (1934-1938), Rev. Canon Banks (1938-1940), S.S.J.E. Cowley Fathers (1940-1955), Rev. Roy H. Nixon (1955-1959), Rev. Tom James (1959-1963), Rev. Francom (1963-1967), Rev. Robert Lumley (1967-1973), Rev. Jonathan Patrick Earle (1973-1975), Rev. Murray Bradford (1975-1983), Rev. Ray Porth (1983-1989), Rev. Michael Cottrell (1989-1993), Rev. Thomas Cunningham (1994-?).

Sources:

• “Priests Who Have Served Lake of Bays Anglican Parish Including Baysville, Dorset, Port Cunnington (Fox Point)”, [1997], Diocesan Centre history files collection, Algoma University Archives, 2014-037_001_001.
• Gary Denniss, "A Brief History of the Churches in Muskoka", 1996, Synod of the Diocese of Algoma fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-156_002_009.

On March 16, 1880, William H. Brown executed a deed in trust in favour of the Right Reverend Frederick Dawson Fauquier, first Bishop of Algoma, for a church in Baysville, Ont. 

The St. Ambrose’s Anglican Church (Baysville, Ont.) started under the administration of the minister of Bracebridge. The first stage of the church was a bare-minimum structure completed late in 1882 for the expected arrival of the Bishop of Algoma. On January 16, 1883 the Bishop held a service in the evening and a meeting the next day to plan the completion of the building. By the end of 1884 the congregation had raised enough money for a decent roof, plaster, windows, and a fence.

In these early years, St. Ambrose’s and St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Stoneleigh, Ont.) were administered to by St. Thomas’ Anglican Church (Bracebridge, Ont.). Rev. James Boydell, who traveled by bicycle from church to church was the last pastor from St. Thomas’ to minister at St. Ambrose’s.  In the mid to late 1890s the church separated from Bracebridge and became its own mission with funding from the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge.

St. Ambrose’s was opened February 12, 1899 under the ministry of the Reverend A. W. Hazelhurst; it was dedicated to St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397) who is considered one of the four original doctors of the Church, and is the patron saint of Milan. The first church was repurposed for use as a Parish Hall and Sunday School. The new church had a nave, chancel, apse, vestry and porch, with a crypt underneath, large enough for a furnace-room and guild-hall. The church was consecrated in 1901 by Rev. Thornelow, Bishop of Algoma.

In August 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Brown gifted an acre of land to Rev. and Mrs. Hazlehurst, who in turn gifted it to the Diocese in November 1911 for use as a cemetery. The land was consecrated October 17, 1915. But on September 3, 1919 St. Ambrose was destroyed in a fire. The community moved quickly and within two weeks new lots adjacent the old church were purchased for construction of a new church. The old school house on one of these lots was used as a makeshift church.

The congregation had difficulty raising enough money to build the new church, mostly due to the post-war inflation. A committee was formed to work on fundraising for the new church. In spring of 1921 the foundation was begun, and about a year later the structure built. On November 9, 1922 the Bishop Thornelow visited to perform a service, but the church was not officially opened until July 29^th, 1923.

After Rev. A.P. Banks left the parsonage in 1940, it was sold and has since been a private residence. Permanent rectors now live in the rectory in Dorset, which is more central to the Lake of Bays Mission. In 1940 the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Bracebridge, Ont.) took over the mission; it was administered to by the Cowley Fathers until 1955. In 1955 the parish became known as the Lake of Bays Mission and it included: St. Ambrose’s Anglican Church (Baysville, Ont.), St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Stoneleigh, Ont.),  St. Mary’s Anglican Church (Norway Point, Ont.), St. James’ Anglican Church (Port Cunnington, Ont.), St. Mary’s Magdalene’s Anglican Church (Dorset, Ont.), and St. John’s Anglican Church (Fox Point, Ont.).

The congregation of St. Ambrose celebrated their centenary in 1998.

Incumbents have included: Rev. Canon Alexander William Hazelhurst (1894-1927), Rev. Richard Cartwright Warder (1927-1933), Rev. H. Alfred Rogers (1933-1934), Rev. W. Ruthford Tindle (1934-1938), Rev. Canon Alfred Percy Banks, (1938-1940), S.S.J.E. (Cowley Fathers) (1940-1955), Rev. Roy H. Nixon (1955-1959), Rev. Tom James (1959-1963), Rev. James Francom (1963-1967), Rev. Robert Lumley (1967-1973), Rev. Jonathan Patrick Earle (1973-1975), Rev. Murray Bradford (1975-1983), Rev. Ray B. Porth (1983-1989), Rev. Michael Cottrell (1989-1993), and Rev. Thomas Cunningham (1994-).

Sources:

• "Baysville Mission" The Algoma Missionary News 11, no.4 (1899): 26.
• "Baysville", The Algoma Missionary News 15, no.11 (1919): 124-125. 
• "80th anniversary for St. Ambrose, Baysville", The Algoma Anglican 22, no. 5 (1978): 1, 6. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_011_017.
• Sheila Klyn, “St. Ambrose Anglican Church, Baysville, Ontario”, 1998, St. Ambrose’s Anglican Church (Baysville, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-216_001_001.
• “St. Ambrose Anglican Church, Baysville, Ontario. 1880 – 1972”, 1973, Diocesan Heritage Centre history files collection, Algoma University Archives, 2014-037_001_001.