On Sunday, 11 June 2023, the Committee of Friends’ Meeting House, Uxbridge, Ontario, held its 214th anniversary service.
A video of the service is available online thanks to Olivia Croxall, and thanks to Sandra Fuller for passing this information along to CFHA.
Built in 1820 on Quaker Hill to replace the former log meeting house, the current Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House is the oldest building in Uxbridge Township, Ontario.
To read more about Uxbridge heritage, you can find Allan McGillivray’s talk on Uxbridge Friends from CFHA’s 2004 annual meetinghere. If you’re interested in reading about how CFHA co-founder Kathleen Hertzberg became involved with the Uxbridge Meeting House, her 2004 account can be foundhere.
Thank you to Carman Foster for transcribing the minutes and to Randy Saylor for overseeing the transcription process. The CFHA is grateful for their generous donation and time.
Beginning in 1845, this Orthodox-held minute book details the business of Pickering Monthly, reorganized in 1842 by the Canada Half Yearly Meeting to combine Uxbridge and Pickering. Meetings were held alternatively at both the Uxbridge and Pickering meeting houses. According to Arthur Dorland, Pickering Monthly Meeting changed to Pickering Executive in 1886 due to the general decline of the meeting and the movement of younger generations to other districts.[1]
Pickering Township was settled by families from Yonge Street, most notably Timothy Rogers. In 1809, Rogers and his family left Yonge Street and settled at Duffin’s Creek. Friends in the area were devastated soon after by an epidemic in 1809–1810 that killed many. At the end of 1810, Rogers returned to the United States and brought back with him more friends to settle the area.
Photo of the Uxbridge Meeting House, May 2019. Photo courtesy of the Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House Facebook page.
Photo of the Pickering Meeting House, built in 1867. The brick building replaced the former two-story meeting house, used from 1833–1866. Photo courtesy of Ajax.ca
[1] Arthur G. Dorland, The Quakers in Canada: A History, 2nd ed. (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1968), 174.
Every June 13th, the Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House hosts an annual service. This year, on its 212th anniversary service (and 201st anniversary of the meeting house), Chair Rob Croxall and several committee friends worked to provide an online service that can be viewed via YouTube.
Built in 1820 on Quaker Hill to replace the former log meeting house, the current Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House is the oldest building in Uxbridge Township, Ontario.
To read more about Uxbridge heritage, you can find Allan McGillivray’s talk on Uxbridge Friends from CFHA’s 2004 annual meeting here. If you’re interested in reading about how CFHA co-founder Kathleen Hertzberg became involved with the Uxbridge Meeting House, her 2004 account can be found here.
Photo of the Uxbridge Meeting House, May 2019. Photo courtesy of the Uxbridge Quaker Meeting House Facebook page.
