History of St. Matthew's.
There was streetcar service from the city centre south on Bank Street to Lansdowne Park. The streetcars were reliable, inexpensive and reasonably fast. They also were heated by electricity -- the first in North America! In what is today the Glebe’s main shopping area, there was only a grocery store, a dry goods store, a butcher’s shop and a Chinese laundry.
St. Matthew’s was the first parish created in the new Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. Much of the area was still scrubland with only a few houses and market gardens. The founding group bought four lots at $300 each from the Glebe Trustees of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Prior to the building of the new church, the first service in the parish was held on Jan. 9, 1898, over a grocery store. A fierce snowstorm whipped around outside. The streetcars weren’t operating so the young minister, J. Arthur Tancock, and his wife had to make their way there in a covered sleigh. Work on the new church began in the spring and was finished by early summer. Painted a light grey-blue, it had white trim around tall narrow windows. The inaugural service was on July 17. A choir of two accompanied the pianist, Emma Hammill.
Designed by John W. H. Watts, an English architect who later became curator of the new National Gallery of Canada, the nave of the wood-frame building could hold 260. An open part of the basement was used for Sunday School classes.
The Glebe: a distinct community
The story of St. Matthew’s is intertwined with the growth of the Glebe itself. By the early 1900s and within a few years of each other, all major Christian denominations had established churches in the area. Population growth required more churches, new schools and new recreational facilities for sports such as tennis, boating, lawn bowling and hockey.
The success of the streetcar service allowed civil servants to return home from their offices for lunch. The electric streetcars were also well used for holiday outings to Britannia and Rockcliffe Park and had a huge impact on the development of the Glebe. By 1909, its population was around 4,000. By 1914, it had become a distinct community within the City of Ottawa -- mostly English speaking, mostly Protestant and mostly populated by employees of the federal government.
When World War I broke out, house prices in the Glebe were between $3,000- $5,000. Building lots went for $1,000. The war’s demands on resources slowed down residential construction. Lansdowne Park was used as a training and holding camp for the Canadian military. But by the end of the war the Glebe was a firmly established community. By 1920 it had a population of around 10,000 and little St.
Matthew’s had grown to be the largest congregation in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa.
In 1904, the church bought a large house on First Ave. to serve as a rectory. Its good-size garden supplied flowers for the church during summer. Around this time, the church was enlarged in two stages that took seating capacity in 1908 to 900. By 1914, St. Matthew’s had 2,240 members. Nearly 600 children attended several Sunday School classes. By 1920, the church was free of debt.
It was against this backdrop that in the late 1920s the parishioners and their fifth rector, the Irish-born Canon Robert Jefferson, made plans to build a much larger church and parish hall at a cost of $250,000. In those days, that was a staggering amount. The fund-raising campaign included hundreds of personal pledges and door-to-door calls by children. A former mayor of Ottawa, Frank H. Plant, personally pledged $35,000 (later he would become mayor again). But the project suddenly turned quite risky because of the 1929 stock market crash and ensuing hard times. The will and financial resources of the congregation were severely tested. Many pledges couldn’t be met. A $100,000 mortgage at 7% was taken out against vacant lots the parish owned and was later increased to $125,000. This allowed construction to continue and the impressive new stone edifice opened its doors just before Christmas Day 1930.
Designed by Cecil Burgess, a well-known Ottawa architect, the building’s gothic revival style was described by the Ottawa Journal as "architecturally a triumph." The beautiful new church could seat 1,100 and accommodate a choir of 60. The parish hall could hold 600. The energetic Canon Jefferson would go on to become the third Bishop of Ottawa.
By the mid-1930s, the church’s finances were in better shape, but with anxious times during World War II it wouldn’t be until 1962 that it was debt free again. That year its burdensome mortgage was ceremoniously burned at a vestry meeting. A consecration service for the church was held three days later, attended by some 1,000 people.
Between 1918 and 1945, St. Matthew’s was not just a place for worship. The church and its spacious Jefferson Hall offered a busy social and cultural scene quite different from anything today. Activities included many church dinners, lively bazaars, a variety of recreational events, drama clubs and youth-oriented programs. During the 1950s, Ottawa grew explosively. By the 1970s, the Glebe had become a very desirable -- even trendy -- place to live and raise a family.
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