St. Jude’s Cemetery Oakville
Location:
258 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 4 SDS, lot 17, Trafalgar Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.43570°N
Longitude: -79.67799°W
History:
It was about the year 1840 that the Rev Dr Thomas Greene, Rector of St Luke’s Church, Wellington Square (now Burlington) began visiting the Anglican families of Oakville, and the surrounding district. The first recorded Anglican service to be held in Oakville was a celebration of the Eucharist by the Rev Greene on Wednesday, August 12 1839. The community was
composed of some 500 people, with a grist mill, tannery, shipyards and a blacksmith shop.
It would appear that services were conducted in a frame school house on the banks of the Sixteen Mile Creek, which was shared with other Protestant denominations. Among the latter, the Methodists were not included, they having a fine building on Colborne Street, which later became the site of the Bank of Montreal. The building was purchased by members of the Church of England in 1842. After considerable alterations it was dedicated as the Church of St. Jude.
The Rev George Winter Warr was appointed the first incumbent in 1842 shortly after his ordination as Deacon by Bishop Strachan. He remained as incumbent for four years before returning to his native Dublin. He later became the Rector of St Saviour’s Church Liverpool. Rev Warr was succeed by the Rev Alexander Pyne (1846-1850), Rev Saltern Givens (1851)
and the Rev Robert Shanklin (1851-1862).
It was during the incumbency of the Rev Shanklin that a plot of ground on the lake shore, about one mile west of the town, was purchased for a rectory and cemetery. The property consisting of 5 acres of Lot 17 Concession 4 (SDS) was purchased on August 11 1853 and registered by bargain and sale on Aug 14 1853. The northerly part was set apart for the
cemetery and on the bank of the lake a fine large residence was erected.
The Rev Shanklin was succeeded by the Rev John Fletcher (1863-1869) and subsequently by Cannon John Bell Worrell (1869-1903). Shortly after his arrival it was found desirable to obtain a new site for the rectory, a decision in part as the result of an unfortunate experience which he had suffered. During a winter blizzard, he lost his way while walking home one Sunday after evening service. Had it not been for his dog, which in the end successfully guided his foot-
steps, he might have spent an uncomfortable night in the open. It was decided to purchase property nearer the church at the corner of Dun and William Streets.
On June 13 1883, the cornerstone for a new church building was laid at the same location. The first service was held in the new church on December 16 1883. A Sunday School was erected in 1887 and a tower added to the church in 1896. In 1925 the Sunday School was enlarged and a parish hall erected. A further addition was made to the church building in 1956.
The southerly part of the cemetery (two acres) which included the old rectory (which eventually became named “Holyrood” by the then owner, Dr William T Stuart) was sold on May 30 1887. An addition was made to the cemetery on June 16 1927 to the east and below the hill next to to the original cemetery. It was comprised of 13.133 acres. The southern portion of this new addition, comprising 6.62 acres, was sold by a grant of $1.00 to Gordon LeFebvre on May 18 1929.
The maintenance and sale of plots in the cemetery was transferred to the Oakville Parks and Recreation Department in May 1979. A Memorial Garden was opened on the church’s west lawn and consecrated in 1982. It was donated by Jean Mulholland in her husband’s memory. The information regarding the cremated remains placed in the garden is kept in a book in the
church and is recorded in another cemetery transcription entitled St Jude’s Church Memorial Garden.
Sources of the above information:
1) Saint Jude’s Church, Oakville, 1842-1957 by A H Lighbourn.
2) Notes from a speech made on February 6 1974 by E C Pullen.
3) Oakville and the Sixteen by Hazel C Mathews 1994.
Ronald H Hibbert
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.