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Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library Archives West Gwillimbury Church With digital objects
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Puzzles of Wilson's Hill Pioneer Cemetery

Bradford Today article about the Wilson's Hill Pioneer Cemetery in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

"Once the 'most visited cemetery in Simcoe County,' Wilson's Hill in Bradford West Gwillimbury is the resting place of 300 to 500 people, including some notable pioneer families"

Bradford Today

Military History is recalled by Finding of Button

"While working in the flower-bed at the front of the bradford Presbyterian Church this summer, Mr. harvey Curry dug up a small object which turned out to be a button off a soldier's uniform. A little rubbing revealed the number "30" inside a raised circle on which was the word "Cambridge"
Local veterans being unable to identify it, Mr. Curry wrote to the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto and received the following reply:" ...

Bradford Witness

Christ Anglican Church

Christ Church on the Bond Head Road in Middleton, the first Anglican church in West Gwillimbury. Before demolition after WWII.

Leslie F. Wilcox, Dr.

Old time service

"The Auld Kirk, a historical church located at the Scotch Settlement will be the scene of an old time church service Sunday, June 22 at 3:00 p.m. The service is being jointly arranged by the Barrie Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church and the Simcoe Presbytery of the United Church. The Auld Kirk is on the 6th line of West Gwillimbury Township south of Highway 88 at the Scotch Settlement. The outdoor service will be led by Rev. Henry Dahlin, minister of Bond Head United Church and Chairman of the Simcoe Presbytery. Also participating in the service will be Rev. Ken Purdon, minister of Burton Ave. United Church in Barrie and Rev. Ed MacDonald, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Orillia and moderator of Barrie Presbytery. The guest preacher will be Rev. W. Stanford Reid, Professor of History at the University of Guelph.
The Auld Kirk's beginnings go back to 1823 when a log church was built by the settlers of the Scotch Settlement. In 1827, a frame church was built and the original log building was moved and used as a school until 1840. The present Auld Kirk building was erected in 1869 at a cost of $1,000. Due to a dwindling population the church was closed in 1885 and for some years fell into disrepair. In 1912, it required a new roof. In 1953, the restoration of the cemetery was started and in 1958 restoration work began on the church."

Bradford Witness

Outdoor service well attended

"A congregation of more than 150 people gathered at the Auld Kirk in the Scotch Settlement near Bradford on Sunday afternoon. The churchgoers were attending an outdoor service arranged by the South Simcoe Presbytery."

Missionary will speak

"Reverend Roy Comrie of Umtalie, Rhodesia, will be guest speaker at St. John's West Gwillimbury churches in Bradford on Sunday, April 2. Mr. Comrie is a missionary who serves with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship and studies at Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto. He was born in Rhodesia to parents from Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland, and has served several years in Zambia. He and his wife, Gwyneth, a registered nurse, have been serving in Rhodesia as pastor of a congregation, principal of a Bible School, and evangelists. The Comries have three sons, two of them teenagers, and a daughter, and they are planning to return to Rhodesia in August. The Presbyterian congregations welcome everyone to their Sunday services and invite you to hear this interesting preacher."

Carol Simone

Councillor Cook died Thursday, hundreds pay their respects

"Fred Cook, a man who for many years was a social and political influence in Bradford, died last Thursday in York County Hospital at 73. Mr. Cook was admitted to the hospital April 6 suffering from a heart attack. Funeral services were held in Trinity Anglican Church, Bradford, on Monday afternoon with the Rector, Rev. Jack House and Bishop Hunt, a lifelong friend of Mr. Cook's, conducting the service. Hundreds of friends and associates gathered in the little church on Church St. that Fred Cook served so well. Mayor Joe Magani led a delegation of members of council and the town administrative staff. Many officials representing the various surrounding municipalities also attended the special funeral service. During his 73 years, Fred Cook's life revolved around the town of his birth, Bradford."

Bradford Witness

Auld Kirk Anniversary Celebration

Ladies after cleaning the church for the anniversary service.
Back Row: Madie Elliott, Vera MacDonald, Norma Melbourne, Myrtle Calhoun
Front Row: Laura Lloyd, Bobbie Hodgson, Muriel Cairns, Joyce Muirhead
Children: Jane McNair, Ann Hodgson.

Auld Kirk

The Auld Kirk in the Scotch Settlement. The congregation, many of them Scottish immigrants, began gathering in 1822, and a log church was built in 1823. This building was built in 1869. It closed its doors in 1885.

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