Bishop John Inglis Visits the Settlement
The settlement began to prosper in other ways. The Church of England was probably the first religious denomination to establish a permanent presence in the Stanley area. On 20 August 1835, before the first large group of company settlers had even arrived, The Rt. Rev. John Inglis, Bishop of Nova Scotia, who was then also responsible for New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Bermuda, made his first visit to the area. He arrived after dark and was greeted with torches and bonfires. In his journal, Inglis recorded that "Everything looked beautiful and we had a very pleasant evening."
The following day the Bishop preached at a worship service held for Commissioner Kendall, the Kendall family, and the approximately 60 workmen who had been hired to erect company buildings and clear the townsite. He also baptized the second child born in the settlement. Overall, Bishop Inglis was impressed with the "improvements at Stanley," finding the buildings "particularly neat" and the sawmill "superior." About 150 acres, he noted, were "already cleared and much under crop...." The Bishop left the settlement, satisfied that it was off to a good start.****
**** The quotations attributed to Bishop Inglis were drawn from his journal entries for 20 and 21 August 1835. Extracts from his journals are located in MC58 Bishop Charles Inglis and Bishop John Inglis family collection : [1787-1842], PANB.