Documents & Records
Church Records - United
Basics
The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 through a union of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational churches. Prior to union, the Methodists and Presbyterians had been the earliest and most active churches ministering to the Chinese community.
Reflecting this change, some of the previously established Chinese Methodist and Chinese Presbyterian Churches became Chinese United Churches.
Finding the Records
At United Church Archives
United Church archival collections are held at a central repository in Toronto, and at Conference archives' in several locations across Canada. (A Conference is an administrative group of churches covering a regional area).
A small number of items held by various repositories of the United Church and of possible value to Chinese-Canadian genealogists are described below. The list is not comprehensive, and researchers are encouraged to contact individual repositories directly for advice about the availability of additional historical and genealogical records relating to Chinese churches. Contact information is available on the United Church of Canada Archives Network page. Microfilm items held by the Central Archives/Victoria University Archives in Toronto are available through inter-library loan.
Chinese school records from the Kelowna Methodist Church covering the period from 1914-1916 are available at the United Church of Canada British Columbia Conference Archives. For more information and a finding aid, see the archival description in the British Columbia Archival Union List.
Records of the Oriental Home and School in Victoria are also available at the United Church of Canada British Columbia Conference Archives. The School began in 1888 as the Chinese Girls Rescue Home. It was established by a Methodist missionary concerned about traffic in Chinese women and girls for the purposes of prostitution. For further details, see the archival description in the British Columbia Archival Union List.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg existed from 1881 to 1925. It initiated Chinese classes around 1896. The church's records are held by the United Church of Canada Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Conference Archives.
All People's United Church in Hamilton, Ontario opened in 1926 to serve new Canadians in the city, especially the Chinese, Japanese and Italians. The church's records are held by the United Church of Canada / Victoria University Archives.
- Information about specific items in the United Church of Canada British Columbia Conference Archives are available in the Historical Chinese Language Materials in British Columbia electronic inventory. Go to the Catalogue Search page and search by Holding Location, entering United church archive as keywords.
See also:
Photo banner: Detail from VPL Historical Photograph 78362
