History of St. Margaret's

The history of St. Margaret's-in-the-Pines, West Hill dates back to 1832 when a section of land in Scarborough was surveyed for the establishment of a church and burial grounds. The land was purchased and donated by the Hon. Simon Washburn, a Toronto lawyer and warden at St. James, York, for the purpose of developing an Anglican parish in the Township. Washburn's purchase resulted from consultation with John Strachan, then Archdeacon of York and Rector of St. James.1

In the years preceding, Strachan had become increasingly concerned about the "spiritual destitution" of the districts surrounding York. At the time of Washburn's donation, the only church in Scarborough was St. Andrew's Presbyterian (1819). By 1830, the population of Scarborough had reached 1,135; many of the new settlers to the area were of the Church of England and were holding services in makeshift facilities (houses, taverns, schools, etc.). 2 Thus, Strachan was anxious to build a permanent structure in an attempt to create a unified Anglican parish.

The first St. Margaret's church was a simple, wooden frame structure. It has been suggested that the name "St. Margarets" was likely chosen less in tribute to the pious Scottish queen (d. 1093), but rather to Simon Washburn's wife, Margaret. 3 The simplicity of the first frame church meant that formal services could only be held in the warmer seasons.

For the first few years, St. Margaret's and another new parish in the L'Amoreaux district of north Scarborough, were served by a variety of travelling clergy and missionaries. No clerical consistency occurred until 1838 when a few ministers, including some instructors from Upper Canada College, began making regular weekly trips to Scarborough. A permanent incumbent did not exist until the appointment of Rev. William Henry Norris in 1840. Rev. Norris served St. Margaret's and the newly built St. Paul's L'Amoreaux until 1843. This "sharing of clergy" between parishes was an arrangement that was to last until the late 1940s, albeit with several adjustments as further churches were constructed. For this reason, it is impossible to study the history of St. Margaret's in isolation from the other Anglican parishes that were to be built in Scarborough over the next 100 years

In 1843 Strachan removed William Norris and appointed Rev. William Stewart Darling, who held the post for the next 10 years. During Darling's incumbency Scarborough began to flourish into a major township with a population of over 4,000 by the early 1850s. Most significant to church history during this decade was the building of Christ's Church (1845-1846) near the present Kingston Road, a "modern" structure suited to services in all seasons. 4 Its construction led to the virtual abandonment of the wood-frame St. Margaret's; unsuited to services in cold weather, it became mainly used for funerals and special events in the warmer months. For the next 40 years, the main congregation would be located at Christ's Church. Further changes occurred in 1849 when donated land in the Wexford area was used to build St. Jude's, creating a third parish to which Rev. Darling ministered. Each Sunday, Darling held separate services at these churches, either at 10:00 am, 2:00 pm, and 5:00 pm. The three parishes rotated service times on a monthly basis. Once every three years Bishop Strachan travelled to the district to conduct confirmation services, a tradition that continued until 1864.5

Although records of the parish's history over the following 30 years are scant, the status of the parish seems to have remained relatively unchanged, with Christ Church continuing to be the central church. The following is a list of the incumbent changes that took place during this period:

1853-1869 William Belt

1869-1877 John Fletcher

1877-1878 C.R. Bell

1878-1882 E. Horace Musson

1882-1884 H. B. Owen

1885-1890 Frederick Burt

When Rev. Frederick Burt arrived in 1885, he set about renovating St. Margaret's to re-establish it as a location for regular services. It is not wholly clear to what extent Burt was successful in his endeavors; however, there are records of a Christmas service held there in 1888, and reports of an organ being transported to & from St. Margaret's on loan each week from the home of one of the wardens.

One serious problem that arose occurred amongst the parishioners themselves. An ugly dispute ensued between those who remained at Christ's Church and those who moved to St. Margaret's. Many at Christ's Church strongly objected to Burt "splitting" their congregation through his re-establishment of the old parish. The Bishop became involved and in the end he advised Burt, who had become the central target of the dispute, to resign from the post. Frederick Burt left in 1890. 6 The Bishop allowed things to "cool off" for a year, before appointing Rev. Thaddeus Walker to the parish in the summer of 1891. Walker stayed 11 years, until being replaced by Rev. William Farrncomb in 1902.

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1.This history is primarily constructed from: Robert R. Bonis, A History of St. Margaret's in the Pines, West Hill, and the Parish of Scarborough (St. Margaret's-in-the-Pines Church, 1983).
2. All Scarborough population records are obtained from: Barbara Myrvold, The People of Scarborough: A History (Scarborough: The City of Scarborough Public Library Board, 1997), 212.
3. David Boyle, ed., The Township of Scarborough, 1796-1896 (Toronto: William Briggs, 1896), 157.
4. The original Christ's Church was situated east of the present Christ Church (at Markham Rd.). Although its exact location is not entirely clear, it appears to have be located about half-way between the modern Christ Church and St. Margaret's-in-the-Pines.
5. Bishop Strachan was by then 86 years old.
6. Robert Bonis states that although the active dispute eventually dissipated, a slight sense of superiority prevailed among the Christ's Church population that regarded St. Margaret's as "only a funeral chapel"; Bonis continued to see this attitude when he arrived in the parish in 1938.

- Information compiled by Danielle Terbenche