Bethune, Alexander Neil

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Arthur N. Thompson, “BETHUNE, ALEXANDER NEIL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bethune_alexander_neil_10E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Church of England clergyman and bishop; b. 28 Aug. 1800 at Williamstown, Charlottenburg Township, U.C., son of the Reverend John Bethune, a loyalist, and Véronique Waddin; m. Jane Eliza Crooks, and they had ten children, including Robert Henry, a founder and, for more than 20 years, cashier of the Dominion Bank, and Charles James Stewart, who became headmaster of Trinity College School, Port Hope; d. 3 Feb. 1879 at Toronto, Ont.
    • A clergyman of the Church of Scotland, John Bethune emigrated to the Carolinas to be chaplain of a regiment of the Royal Militia. Captured soon after the outbreak of the American War of Independence, he made his way to Halifax and then lived for a number of years in Montreal, where he established its first Presbyterian church, the St Gabriel Street Church. 
    • When the diocese of Toronto was carved out of that of Quebec in 1839, Strachan became its first bishop and he appointed Alexander Bethune as one of his chaplains.
    • Later in 1867 Bethune represented the diocese of Toronto in place of the failing Strachan at the first Lambeth Conference, in England. He returned to Toronto just before Strachan’s funeral on 5 November. Bethune had succeeded his mentor on 1 Nov. 1867, and adopted as his signature “A. N. Toronto.” He resigned both the rectory of Cobourg and the archdeaconry of York. He continued as bishop of Toronto until his death in 1879.
    • Bethune was an example to all in his industry, his integrity, his loving manner, and his impartiality. He possessed conviction, but was an intensely humble man. His love of beauty and correctness in worship was interpreted by many in those unsettled times simply as a sign of “high church,” and his humility was taken by many for weakness. His message was largely lost on his generation.
  • Son of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=565
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/247894777/alexander_neil-bethune