Posted by: Catherine Allen
At four o’clock on the afternoon of Monday, January 15th, 1876, the Rev. T.W. Barry called a Special Meeting of the Vestry of the Mission of Billings Bridge. It was moved by a Mr. H.O. Wood and seconded by a Mr. John Smyth that the Mission be called “Trinity Church Mission”. The motion carried. Thus began the history of Trinity Church, Billings Bridge.
In those days Billings Bridge was a small hamlet on the Rideau River. Bank Street, running south from the Ottawa River, was only sparsely populated as far as Somerset Street. From there on it was a concession road with fields and bush on both sides.
No information exists concerning the site and the costs of building the first Trinity Church but construction was started sometime in 1876. Many years later in 1920, a letter was found in the masonry, apparently deposited by the original builders, the names of whom were given as William Harris, John Wait, David Wait, John F. Munro and a labourer, John Brouse. It was also stated that “the average quantity of whisky drunk on this church – one quart a day. Wages 12 cents an hour”.
Trinity Church was constructed of red brick and apparently took three years to complete for the records show that the opening service was held on August 24th, 1879. The walls inside were not plastered, instead the bricks were painted a cream colour. One of the most striking architectural features was a beautiful stained glass “Rose” window installed over the altar in memory of John Rogers, killed in 1885 at Cutknife Hill during the North-west Rebellion.
The interior was small with seating for about 150 people. Natalie Frerichs, organist and choir director from 1903 to 1949 recalled in her memoirs of the church that there were times, for example, when the Orangemen paraded to church, that some trepidation was expressed as to whether the floor would bear the additional weight.
Every spring the river flooded its banks, often reaching the church, dousing the furnace fire and flooding the basement. The old bridge traversing the Rideau was usually covered with water in the spring and was considered risky for travelling.
At that time a large proportion of the congregation lived across the bridge so on these occasions getting to church on time was a perilous business. In fact, according to the records, one early twentieth century Rector almost missed the service altogether because his buggy bogged down in the mud of the spring thaw as he drove to Trinity Church from one of his other parishes.
By the mid-20’s, the congregation had grown enough to warrant building a new church. An architect was hired and plans were made to construct a brick church with a seating capacity of 600 on the existing site with the entrance on Cameron Ave. The original church was moved bricks, cornerstone, pews, doors, windows (except the Rose window which had been transferred to the new church) and furnace to the parish of Ellwood where it still stands today.
On Easter day, April 4th, 1926 the first service was held in the new church. Natalie Frerichs wrote that, “Three dear old ladies took Communion together – Mrs. Susannah Spaul, 86 years old; Mrs. Ann Fielding, 100 years old, and Mrs. Janet Ellis, 89 years old. The church was filled to overflowing.”
Over the next two decades the parish continued to expand steadily and to prosper. In the early 1940’s an assistant to the Rector was appointed and a new pipe organ was purchased and installed, much to Natalie Frerichs’ delight.
All this changed in a matter of minutes on the morning of Wednesday, March 19, 1947 when disaster struck. Just before the 10 o’clock morning service, sparks from the coal furnace ignited the cedar shake roof of the church. The fire spread so rapidly that the roof and the interior of the church burned within twenty minutes. Rev. C.A. Bender had to be rescued by firemen through a vestry window as he attempted to save items from the church. The pipe organ, windows and almost all the furnishings were destroyed. Only the exterior walls, the cement church floor and the basement were left intact.
Despite this overwhelming setback, the congregation rallied together and within a year and a half of the Great Fire, as it is called in the church annals, Trinity Church had risen again from the ashes. The building that emerged complete in September, 1948 still stands today – a church with a proud and diverse past that owes its very existence to the commitment and dedication of many generations of loyal Ottawa South parishioners.
Special thanks to Herb Gladish and Roger Young for their assistance in the preparation of this article.
Originally published in the OSCAR March 1993.