Ansley, Amos

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: William Westfall, “ANSLEY (Annesley), AMOS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ansley_amos_7E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Church of England clergyman; baptized 25 Jan. 1801 in Kingston, Upper Canada, seventh child of Amos Ansley and Christina (Christian) McMichael; m. 1826 Harriet Kirkpatrick Henderson, and they had four sons and two daughters; d. 1837 in Montreal.
    • Amos Ansley’s father, a loyalist from New York, settled in the Cataraqui (Kingston) district, where his skills as a carpenter-builder helped him play an active role in the young community. Amos was educated at the University of Edinburgh and graduated am on 14 Jan. 1822. Stationed at Hull in Lower Canada and March Township in Upper Canada as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, he was ordained deacon in 1824. In 1826 he was priested by Bishop Charles James Stewart of Quebec. His responsibilities extended to some 14 townships on both sides of the Ottawa River.
    • The missionary reports that Ansley submitted to the SPG reveal a hard-working and dedicated priest – his bishop spoke highly of the “great diligence” with which he approached his work. His published sermon presents a man with a rational and orthodox intelligence, indeed with a sense of refinement that might seem incongruous with the emerging commercial character of the Ottawa valley. Although problems cut short his career, they were of a type that was not uncommon among missionaries who had to confront the privations of living on the very edge of Anglican civilization. While Ansley’s story might not conform to the heroic tales popularized by the religious press in the Victorian era, it does reveal – in both its successes and failures – an important dimension of missionary life in the early decades of the 19th century.
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=39
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249358106/amos-ansley