- DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Duff W. Crerar, “ALMOND, JOHN MACPHERSON (baptized John),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/almond_john_macpherson_16E.html
- DCB profile notes:
- Church of England clergyman and military chaplain; b. 1 Aug. 1871 in Shigawake, Que., son of James Almond and Mary Ann Macpherson; m. 30 Oct. 1901 Nellie Estelle Beemer in Quebec City, and they had three sons; d. 17 Sept. 1939 in Montreal.
- Born to farmers on the south shore of the Gaspé peninsula, John Almond studied for the priesthood at Bishop’s College in Lennoxville (Sherbrooke) and received a ba in 1894. He would not complete his ma (also from Bishop’s) until 1901, after his return from the South African War. Like many young Anglicans, he was attracted to the ideal of the “muscular Christian” portrayed by British author Charles Kingsley, and he played rugby and hockey while at Bishop’s. After his ordination as deacon in 1896 and as priest on 5 Sept. 1897, he sought adventure as a missionary in Labrador.
- By 1899 Almond was serving in Quebec City as assistant curate at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. In October he volunteered as chaplain to the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry embarking for South Africa. Anglicans, outraged that their denomination was not represented, persuaded Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier to authorize the last-minute appointment of Almond as a third. Unwelcome and usually left behind with the sick or wounded, Almond missed the battle of Paardeberg in February 1900, during which his fearless Roman Catholic compatriot Peter Michael O’Leary, who had accompanied the men into combat, became a national hero.
- When war broke out in 1914 the South African episode was either forgiven or forgotten; Almond was one of the first chaplains accepted at the training camp in Valcartier for the Canadian contingent. At the front he was promoted honorary major early in 1915, and on 19 August he became both lieutenant-colonel and assistant director of the Canadian Chaplain Service when the Reverend Richard Henry Steacy, a political crony of the minister of militia and defence, Samuel Hughes, was named director.
- Over the next two years Almond restored the tarnished reputation of the Canadian chaplaincy. He set up parallel operations for Protestants and Roman Catholics, which solved the sectarian impasse created by his predecessor, and he discreetly removed incompetent or disreputable clerics. His establishment of a CCS branch in Canada with direct links to home denominations improved services for returning soldiers, veterans’ hospitals, and training camps.
- John Macpherson Almond was a pioneer in the development of a strong and active ministry to the Canadian soldiers of the Great War. His drive to achieve denominational equality for Roman Catholics, involve the home churches directly in the recruitment of chaplains, and ensure a vigorous front-line presence for his clergy founded the major traditions of military chaplaincy in Canada. Even though the structures he adapted so effectively were replaced by denominational dualism in World War II and the Cold War, the Canadian Armed Forces since 1997 have returned to the single-service, forward-deploying, and multi-faith chaplaincy that had proved so effective on the battlefields of Europe.
- Second Great Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=3102
- Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108987104/john-macpherson-almond
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