It could be said that the date of organization of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church was December 20, 1749, as that was the date on which land was granted for the first Protestant Dissenting Church, on the corner of Hollis and Prince streets. Originally known as Mather’s Church, it soon came to be known as the Protestant Dissenting Church, and finally St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church. It seems that this is the oldest Presbyterian Congregation in Canada.
The original church was constructed in 1753-54, for which £400 came out of public funds. It's not clear whether this was the entire cost of construction of just the portion financed from the public coffers. That first church continued in use until the fire of New Year's Day, 1857, one of many major fires the city has endured through its history. St. Matthew’s was rebuilt at a different, more convenient location the following year, a handsome structure which serves its congregation to this day.
St. Matthew’s History
St. Matthew’s was originally called Mather’s Church, but it soon became known as the Protestant Dissenting Church. This name held until 1814, when it was often called the Presbyterian Church. After 1820 it became known as St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, and the congregation kept that name until it became a member of the United Church of Canada in 1925 – it has been St. Matthew’s United Church since that time.
Application was made to Lord Edward Cornwallis for a Protestant Dissenting Church in 1749, the year of Halifax’s founding, and on Dec. 20 of that year the council granted a church site at the downtown corner of what is still Hollis and Prince streets. This most desirable location consisted of four lots granted to four single men who had made no effort to erect dwellings. The building of the church commenced in 1753 and in 1754 the Halifax Council voted the congregation £400 from the public expense account. The church was completed in 1754. From 1750 until 1754 when the church was opened, the congregation met for worship in St. Paul’s Church (Anglican). In the morning people went to St. Paul’s to hear Rev. John Breynton or Rev. W. Tutty in a service that lasted approximately three hours. In the afternoon, the same people attended the Dissenter’s service with Rev. Aaron Cleveland, their first minister, preaching. Rev. Cleveland was offered a piece of land at the corner of Barrington and Morris, but after three years with the Dissenters, he went to England and joined the Anglican Church.
The church was burned on New Year’s Day in 1857 along with many other buildings. The congregation wished a new location nearer the residential area and purchased the site of an orphanage from Bishop Binney, the site of the present church near the corner of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road.
The Glebe Land
One of the congregation’s favorite historical myths involved the granting and loss of land known as the Glebe Land. In 1751 the congregation was granted 65 acres of land between Oxford Street and the North West Arm in the area now bounded by South Street and Jubilee Road. In the summer of 1775 the minister of St. Matthew’s was Rev. John Seccombe. He was very outspoken about his sympathy with the leaders of the American Revolution, and during the summer a member of the navy and another of the military attended a service where they heard Rev. Seccombe pray for the cause of the rebels, then speak openly in their favour. On Monday he was brought before the Council and charged with uttering treasonable thoughts in sermon and prayer. He escaped with a severe warning, but at about the same time the Glebe Lands of the congregation were taken and given to Major-General John Campbell. Three members of the congregation, prominent businessmen named Malachi Salter, John Fillis, and W. Smith, were also charged with treason, tried and acquitted. Years later the congregation appealed to the Council for the return of the land. The application was turned down, but the equivalent acreage was offered in the Armdale area. This was refused and further applications by the church were ignored.
Had the land remained church property until today it would be worth many million dollars. The congregation liked to say that Rev. John Seccombe preached the most expensive sermon ever heard in Halifax, although records show that actually the land was regranted because the congregation had not bothered to improve it.
From St. Matthew’s United