Inglis, John

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Judith Fingard, “INGLIS, JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/inglis_john_7E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Church of England bishop; b. 9 Dec. 1777 in New York City, son of the Reverend Charles Inglis and Margaret Crooke; m. 31 Aug. 1802 Elizabeth Cochran (Cochrane) in Windsor, N.S., and they had eight children; d. 27 Oct. 1850 in London.
    • After the British evacuation of New York in 1783, John Inglis accompanied his father and two sisters to England. He returned to North America in 1787, on Charles Inglis’s appointment as the first bishop of Nova Scotia. An only son, Inglis enjoyed the doting attention of his widowed father, who always entertained nepotic ambitions for him.
    • On his return from England John was ordained by his father as deacon on 13 Dec. 1801 and priest on 27 June 1802. He was appointed missionary to Aylesford. He succeeded to the rectorship of St Paul’s Church, Halifax, on Robert Stanser’s elevation to the bishopric. There he acquired a reputation as a devoted pastor and captivating preacher. He was known to all social classes, being a faithful visitor to the poor of the parish and an erudite chaplain to the House of Assembly.
    • Evangelical and Calvinistic influences within the church generally were to plague Inglis’s whole career. Both Calvinism and tractarianism in moderation were acceptable to him as a churchman; his objections were more political than doctrinal. He believed that if the church was to retain its pre-eminent position in the diocese in terms of rights and privileges, it must present a united front to its critics.
    • Despite his unflinching establishmentarianism, Inglis commanded wide respect during his years as rector of St Paul’s. All that changed in 1825; the popularity he had built up within the church evaporated when he was elevated to the bishopric of Nova Scotia on Stanser’s retirement. Having secured his succession in England in 1824, which was formalized by a consecration on 27 March 1825, he arranged for his replacement at St Paul’s. Without consulting the congregation, who had always claimed the right to choose their own rector, he recommended to the crown the transfer of Robert Willis from Saint John to Halifax.
    • His refusal to promote interdenominational cooperation, his failure to heal the breaches within colonial Anglicanism, and his preference for a heavy-handed episcopal approach made him, in the end, something of an anachronism in colonial society of the liberal reform era.
  • Son of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4149
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5971352/john-inglis