From the Yesterday section of the Bradford Witness: "Mrs. Earl Bowles submitted this week's photo of the Bradford Methodist Church taken before the First World War. The building still occupies a prominent spot in the town just north of the post office on Barrie Street and has since become the Bradford United Church. The trees which used to shade the street are long gone, but many of the older house along that street, including the church, are in excellent condition."
"Military padre who compared his job to being a mosquito in a nudist colony spent more than 30 years ministering to troops.
Ottawa - Serving in Egypt 50 years ago was an eye-opener for Ormond Hopkins, a padre with the Royal Canadian Army Chaplain Corps. Not only did he have to cope with the heat, sand and flies, he also had to adjust to the local culture. On New Year's Eve, 1956, Mr. Hopkins, an Anglican priest known as Hoppy to his friends, had the opportunity of observing Egyptian culture at close range. The brass had booked two belly dancers from Cairo to entertain Canadian troops and, as a man of the cloth, he felt obliged to protest the salacious nature of the festivites..."
Contains items based on the churches in the Bradford West Gwillimbury area. Headings include:
Auld Kirk
Bond Head Churches
Bradford Presbyterian Church
The Convent
Church Photographs
Dunkerron United
Holy Martyrs of Japan
Methodist Churches in BWG
Springdale Christian Reform
St. Luke's Anglican
St. Paul's Anglican
Trinity Anglican *Churches - Other
Bond Head Methodist Church - stain glass window in memory of John Wilcox and Edward Jeffs.
John Wilcox was a pioneer of Tecumseth Township, arriving in 1855 from Cuba (where he worked in mine structure support). He was born in Chyandour, Cornwall, England on April 22, 1827, and apprenticed as an architect and carpenter. He was sent to Cuba in 1848 to work. In Canada, he married Ann Proctor with whom he had 5 children. John helped the town build roads and bridges, and promoted the Wesleyan Methodist Church in its early days.
