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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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MCCULLAGH, WILLIAM GEORGE (1832-1892)

MCCULLAGH, WILLIAM GEORGE, Presbyterian minister, Red Bank, 1876-78; b. Co. Tyrone, Ireland, c1832, s/o James McCullagh; m. 1863, Anne G. Lawson, of Halifax; d. Toronto, 13 Nov 1892.

After receiving "thorough scholastic and collegiate training," in the course of which he was awarded a number of prizes and medals, William G. McCullagh took a degree from Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1854). Nothing is known about his theological training or emigration, but he was based in Nova Scotia in April 1862, when he paid a visit to the Miramichi and addressed the Chatham YMCA on "The Influence of Christianity on a Nation." He came back two weeks later to stage a one-man show comprised of readings, recitations, and selections which he performed on the piano from the works of Handel, Mozart, Weber, Beethoven, and other composers. His purpose was to raise funds for "a benevolent object." The reference was probably to the Rev. John Geddie's missionary work in the New Hebrides, in which he was preparing to be a participant. Unfortunately, almost nobody braved the April rain and mud to attend the show at the Temperance Hall in Chatham.

In 1863 McCullagh was ordained for service in a foreign field, and in October of that year he left Pictou, N.S., with his wife and several other missionaries in the vessel Dayspring, bound for the New Hebrides. His appointment was at Aneityum, where the Rev. Mr Geddie was based. He served there while Geddie was on furlough in 1864-66, but later, due to the uncertain condition of his wife's health, he went to Australia. He was in Sydney in 1867 and at Deloraine in Tasmania in 1868, where he was in charge of a school.

McCullagh returned to Canada around 1875 and became the first full-time resident pastor of the Presbyterian church at Red Bank in 1876. He had arrived by June and took room and board until the manse was finished in October. The trustees were greatly in need of funds at the time, and he again put his talents to use. At a meeting of the Mechanics' Institute in Newcastle in 1878 he gave a reading and recitation and performed several airs "very prettily on a common whistle and flute to piano accompaniment." He then passed the hat for the benefit of the Red Bank church.

McCullagh was "much loved" at Red Bank, and on the eve of his departure in December 1878 he was presented with "a beautiful wide-margin Bible." His destination was St Andrews, N.B., where he was inducted as minister of historic Greenock Church in June 1879.

In 1881 McCullagh resigned and retired from the ministry, having been afflicted by "softening of the brain." He moved to Toronto, where he died following a lengthy illness. He and his wife, Anne G. Lawson, had at least three daughters. Their second daughter, Rosalie Sydney McCullagh, who was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1867, was the wife of Prof. Charles Ruse of Toronto.

Sources

[m] Presb. Witness 17 Oct 1863 [d] Presb. Witness 19 Nov 1892 / Advance 20 Feb 1879; Advocate 20 Nov 1878, 4 Dec 1878, 18 Jun 1879; Alumni Dublinenses; annual 1893; Arbuckle; Betts (FF); DCB (under John Geddie); Gleaner 5 Apr 1862, 12 Apr 1862, 28 Apr 1862; LDS-AF (re. Rosalie Sydney McCullagh); Presb. Witness 11 Oct 1890; Walkington

Remarques

In the entry on John Geddie in the DCB, Rev. William McCullough, son of Rev. Thomas McCullough of Pictou, is stated to have gone to the New Hebrides in the vessel Dayspring in 1863. If so, both he, at age 52, and Rev. William McCullagh, at age 31, went to the New Hebrides that year.


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