Harrison’s United Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery
Location:
Torbram Road, Brampton, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 5E, lot 9, Chinguacousy Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.74991°N
Longitude: -79.72821°W
History:
On May 2, 1840, Emmanuel Harrison Sr., a native of Yorkshire, England, deeded one acre of land for a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and Burying Ground to Mathias Holtby, Robert Bowesfield, John Watson, Daniel Wilcox, Thos Modeland, Joseph Graham, and John Dale, Trustees. Previous to this time, services were held in the Harrison home or ‘Meeting House’, as it was then called.
The church was built of frame construction about 40 feet by 60 feet and finished in roughcast. It was situated about the centre of the cemetery on the west side of the road. There was a gallery for the choir built over the front door. The pulpit was at the opposite end and was of the high closed-in type frequently known as the ‘Swallow’s Nest’. The men sat on one side of the church and the women on the other side, although newly married couples were allowed to sit together for the first three Sundays.
After the erection of a new church in 1875, the original building was used for concerts and teas until torn down in 1880. The land for the new church was deeded to the Trustees on November 13, 1875 by John Stubbings the elder. The new building was constructed of brick. The mason contractor was James Voakes of Elmbank and the carpenter was W. McCulla of Brampton. Emmanuel Harrison and George Elliott had left legacies of $600 and $400, respectively, which became the basis for the building fund for the new church.
The church has been part of the following circuits:
1821-4 – new settlement mission circuit
1824-48 – Toronto circuit
1848-84 – Brampton and Brampton East circuits
1921 – Grahamsville circuit, composed of Grahamsville, Palestine, and Harrison
With the union of the Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian Churches on June 10, 1925, Harrison’s became part of the United Church of Canada.
The cemetery was taken over by the city of Brampton. It is enclosed by a four foot chain link fence and has a locked gate.
Nora E. Hibbert
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.