The plaque reads as follows:
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF
THE FAITHFUL SERVICE OF
JAMES SIMPSON
CANON AND PRIEST-INCUMBENT,
THE FACADE OF THIS CATHEDRAL
IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED
A.D. 1924
GIVE REST, O CHRIST, TO THY
SERVANT WITH THY SAINTS
English born, Simpson emigrated to Quebec in 1872 where he studied for holy orders at Bishop’s College. This was followed by five years as a surveyor. Later, in Ontario in 1883 he became a priest and in 1886 moved to Charlottetown and St. Peter's Cathedral, a move which was supposed to be temporary. However, as "priest-incumbent" he remained there until his death in 1920.
As the second Canon of the Cathedral it was during his incumbency that
All Souls' Chapel would be built. Designed by renowned Island architect William Critchlow Harris, the interior was decorated with fifteen murals done by Harris' brother, Robert Harris.
SIMPSON, JAMES, Church of England clergyman and author; born 11 May 1853 in Maidstone, England, son of James Simpson, a surgeon and dentist, and Marion Campbell; married 29 June 1891 Alice Maude DesBrisay in Charlottetown, and they had three sons and one daughter; died there 29 Nov. 1920.
After education at Southsea Diocesan Grammar School, James Simpson emigrated to Quebec in 1872, intending to go into business. However, on the advice of two clergymen he studied for holy orders at Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, graduating in arts in 1876 (ma 1879). Having strained his eyes, he did not proceed to ordination but worked for five years as a government surveyor. In 1882 he was engaged as assistant master at Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ont. He was ordered deacon by Bishop Arthur Sweatman* of Toronto in 1882 and priest in 1883.
In December 1886 he went to Charlottetown to take temporary charge of St Peter’s Cathedral. Shortly afterwards he was offered the cure of souls there, and he was inducted on 13 Feb. 1887. He remained until his death, styled “priest-incumbent,” for he was neither dean nor rector, the cathedral lacking both chapter and parish. Yet he would be made a canon of his cathedral in 1907 (the first), and in 1915 an honorary canon of All Saints’ Cathedral, Halifax. Under his leadership St Peter’s Cathedral exercised a wide influence in an Anglo-Catholic direction throughout eastern Canada. He introduced Eucharistic vestments in 1889. In the same year All Souls’ Chapel, the work of two brothers, architect William Critchlow and portrait painter Robert Harris, was dedicated; it was used for the daily Eucharist and offices Simpson initiated in 1890.
From Biographi Canada