St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church Cemetery
Location:
47 Reynolds Street, Oakville, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.44699°N
Longitude: -79.66338°W
History:
“Father Harris said that he had heard a legend of a priest being buried under the church but, when the workmen were putting in a heating system, they found no evidence of it. However, he said, they crawled under only part of the church. If the legend was true, the only place the priest could have been buried was in front of the small altar on the north side of the church. In fact, the successor to Father Morris, Father Terence O’Reilly, is almost certainly buried under the church because his tombstone is there. It has been moved from its original site, since it was leaning against some boxes in the basement and could be easily moved.”
The above history is taken from the anniversary booklet published in 1990 entitled St. Andrew’s Church, Oakville, 1840 – 1990, edited by Ted Farrell.
The following history is from the church’s website.
“Built in 1840 St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church is the oldest church building in Oakville still in its original form. The history of this church dates back as far as 1835 with missionaries. Before the Church was built, Catholic families were served by itinerant priests whose visits were, at best, sporadic.
The construction of St. Andrew’s was made possible by donation of time, talent, and money by the many Catholics in the area. The land was donated to the parish by Colonel William Chisholm, and it is believed that other Scottish Presbyterians assisted their Catholic brethren as well. The church, it is said, was named after Scotland’s patron saint as a gesture of thanks for their generosity.
The first Mass, in the finished church, was celebrated in October 1840. Writings indicate the first Mass was either said by Father Eugene O’Reilly or Fr. Eugene McDonell. The Parish initially was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Toronto but later transitioned to the Diocese of Hamilton.
The first resident priest for the parish was Father Jeremiah Ryan in 1859 who stayed with the Parish for 17 years. It was Father Ryan who first established St. Mary’s school, the first separate school in Oakville.
An entry for 1844 in the Toronto archdiocesan records, reads, “St. Andrew – Oakville, St. Matthew, Trafalgar vacant.” This is the first time that the name of the mission Oakville appears. At the time, the Trafalgar church was called St. Matthew’s; this was later changed to St. Peter.
The first entries in the church records concerning Oakville began with Father John O’Reilly when he baptised two daughters of James and Johanna Fitzgerald in March 1847. The first marriage was recorded on April 18, 1847 (Michael Butler and Anna O’Laughlin).”
Transcription purchase:
This cemetery had too few stones to merit having its own transcription, but its history is included in The Cemeteries of Halton and Peel Regions, which is available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.