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William

Portrait of William Black based on J.W.Lee, et al., The Illustrated History of Methodism (St.Louis/New York: The Methodist Magazine Publishing Co., 1900)
WILLIAM BLACK
1760 - 1834

Born in Huddersfield, England, Black came to the Chignecto area with his family in 1775 as part of the Yorkshire Immigration. In 1779 in a Methodist house meeting he had a conversion experience. He soon felt called to share his new-found faith and in 1781 became an itinerant Methodist preacher. The following year he sought advice through correspondence with John Wesley, though he thereafter turned for help to the Methodist church in the United States. In 1799 he travelled to England to seek help from the Methodists there. On his return to Nova Scotia he assumed more of a leadership role in the Methodist churches there reflected in his popular designation as "Bishop Black."

Plaque on Memorial Arch,
Point de Bute Cemetery,
Point de Bute, N.B.
Unveiled on 30 May 1925.
To the glory of God and in memory of
Reverend William Black
the first Methodist preacher in Canada
who began his ministry
in this community in 1781.
He turned many to righteousness
and he lives forever
in the church which he established.
1760-1834.
On William Black (1760-1834), see

Betts, E. Arthur, Bishop Black and His Preachers (Sackville, N.B.: The Tribune Press, 1976);

Penner, Peter,The Chignecto 'Connexion'; The History of Sackville Methodist/United Church, 1772-1990 (Sackville, N.B.: Sackville United Church, 1990), pp. 8-14.

French, G.S., "BLACK, WILLIAM", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol.VI, pp. 62-68.

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