The Contribution of Presbyterianism to the Maritime Provinces of Canada

Richard Wilbur is supervisor of the Legislative Research Service at the
New Brunswick Legislature, and the author of The Rise of French New
Brunswick.

Perhaps the most enduring memorial to the late George Rawlyk’s
distinguished career as a historian will be the McGill-Queen’s Studies
in the History of Religion, an ongoing project for which he served as
editor. This latest volume comprises articles by 13 distinguished
academics and in many ways reflects Rawlyk’s twin passions: Canadian
history and the historical impact of Maritime religious institutions and
their leaders.

The book’s first two essays—“Scottish Presbyterianism
Transplanted to the Canadian Wilderness” and “The Kirk versus the
Free Church”—lay out the ideological battlefield that perhaps only a
true Scot could appreciate. Making extensive use of personal reports and
letters written to people back home, Barbara Murison, in the former
paper, cautions against drawing conclusions “regarding the attachment
of the mass of colonial Presbyterians to one side or the other.” Barry
Cahill examines the Rev. James MacGregor’s role as a “conscientious
abolitionist,” while Michael Boudreau describes efforts by the
Presbyterian Church in Nova Scotia to “grapple with strikes, rural
decay and socialism in the generation leading up to the First World
War.” The two concluding essays deal with overseas missions, and
include a fascinating account of the efforts of Pictou-born Rev. John
Geddes to seek converts in the New Hebrides.

More than any other modern scholar, George Rawlyk renewed interest in
the religious history of the Maritimes. This volume is a fitting tribute
to his passion and scholarship.