Rev. Allan Pearson Shatford

Rev. Allan Pearson Shatford, known in Montreal and throughout the province of Quebec as a forceful and eloquent preacher, holding a high position in Masonic circles as grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Quebec and known in this city as most earnest, zealous and consecrated in his work as rector of the Church of St. James the Apostle, was born at St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia, and is a son of the late James E. Shatford, a resident of Indian Harbor.

Rev. Allan P. Shatford acquired his education in King’s College in his native province, from which he was graduated B. A. with first class honors in English literature in 1895 and M. A. in 1898. In the former year he was made curate of the Anglican church at Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and served in that capacity until 1900, during which time he was ordained deacon in 1896 and priest in 1897. He was transferred from Bridgewater to North Sydney, Nova Scotia, where he remained as rector until 1906, moving in that year to Montreal, where he became assistant rector of the parish of St. James the Apostle. He was promoted to the position of rector in January, 1912, and still holds this position which is an important and responsible one, for the parish is one of the oldest and largest in Montreal. It was founded in 1864 by Canon Elligood and the first church was built by Mrs. Phillips on land donated by her. Canon Elligood continued as rector from 1864 to 1911, dying in December of that year at the advanced age of eighty-seven. He was succeeded by Rev. Allan P. Shatford, the present incumbent, who is ably carrying forward his predecessor’s work, giving his time, attention and unusual talents to the promotion of the interests of the parish and the spread of the doctrines in which he believes. There are about four hundred and fifty families in the congregation, and the church property is valued at seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Its administration calls for farsighted and capable work and Mr. Shatford has proved equal to the trust reposed in him, aiding the trustees in every possible way and proving his possession of unusual administrative ability and organizing power. The church has had some of the most famous ministers in Canada connected with its affairs at different times, Bishop Dumlin, of the diocese of Niagara, having been at one time assistant, as were also Bishop Duvernet, of Caledonia, and Dean Abbott, of Niagara. The affairs of the congregation are in a most flourishing and prosperous condition, and the people of the parish find in Mr. Shatford a minister well suited to their needs, a man sincere and high-minded in his aims, of scholarly attainments and well directed ability. His sermons show great force and power, and his lectures have gained him wide recognition, winning him mention by the Montreal Gazette as “an accomplished extempore speaker and a preacher of great power.”

Mr. Shatford is well known in Masonic circles, exemplifying in his life the beneficent teachings of that order. He was grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Freemasons for Nova Scotia from 1903 to 1906 and since that time has been grand chaplain of the grand lodge of Quebec province. He was a delegate to the Pan-Anglican Congress held in London in 1908; a delegate to the general synod and to the church congress held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1910, speaking there in a forceful and telling way upon parochial problems. “Today,” in his opinion, “it is Canada for the world, and we think of England as the center of an empire which tends to the solidarity of the human race and the universal brotherhood of man.”