ROBERTS, EDWARD (1822-1914)

ROBERTS, EDWARD, Presbyterian minister, Douglastown, 1888-90; b. Denbighshire, Wales, 1822; m. Mary - ; d. Saint John, 15 Dec 1914.

Edward Roberts was a Baptist minister in Monmouthshire, Wales, in 1861, and in Pembrokeshire in 1871. In 1878, he came to Canada as a Presbyterian minister and had his first charges at Harvey, N.B. and Mabou, N.S. Before going to Mabou, he supplied at St Andrew's Church, in Chatham, and in March 1882, delivered a popular lecture on "The Human Tongue: Its Use and Abuse."

Roberts was living in Bridgewater, N.S., before coming to Douglastown in 1888, at age sixty-six. He was the first settled minister of St Mark's Presbyterian Church after the Rev. James Murray, and he remained until the end of December 1890. During his two-year term he was also the designated minister of St James Church, Nelson. The Saint John Daily Telegraph described him as "a man of strong character, vigorous intellect, and scholarly attainments," and in the opinion of the Miramichi Advance, his performance at Douglastown was "able," and his pastorate "profitable." He later lived in retirement in Saint John and died there in 1914, at age ninety-two. He was survived by two daughters and a son, J. Arthur Roberts, who was a lawyer in Bridgewater.