John Cook (13 April 1805 – 31 March 1892) was a minister at a

Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada () is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Religion in Canada, Canada 2021 Censu ...

and educator associated with

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Life

He was born in

Sanquhar Sanquhar (, ) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and considered the oldest working p ...

, Scotland, and educated at

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He served as a minister in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, and was ordained in December 1835 in

Cardross Cardross () is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical county of Dunbartonshire but th ...

, and designated minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Quebec City (under the Colonial Committee) and arrived in

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

in April 1836. He was Minister of St Andrew's Church from 1836 to 1883, and was the first

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

of the

in June 1875. He had also served as Moderator of the Church of Scotland's Canada Synod in 1838, not long after his arrival. Despite being under the tutelage of

Free Church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...

leader Professor Thomas Chalmers at Edinburgh, Cook remained with the Established Church in June 1844. He was asked to moderate the remainder of that Synod meeting in Kingston, following the defection of Moderator Mark Young Stark. Cook also promoted education, started schools, and was associated with the early days of both Queen's College at Kingston, Canada West and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. He was principal of

Morrin College Morrin College, the first anglophone institute of higher education in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada flourished between the years 1862 and 1902. History It was founded following an important bequest from Joseph Morrin, former city mayor and promin ...

in Quebec City for 31 of its 40 years. In June 1975,

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honoured the Centenary of the Presbyterian Church in Canada with the issue of a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

in honour of Cook. He was awarded the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

in 1838 from the University of Glasgow, and the LLD from Queen's in 1880, following his term as Chancellor.

External links

Cook
in the

Dictionary of Canadian Biography The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; ) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toro ...

The Rev John Cook
1805 births 1892 deaths Scottish emigrants to Canada Chancellors of Queen's University at Kingston Canadian educators Canadian Presbyterian ministers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Sanquhar Alumni of the University of Glasgow {{Canada-clergy-stub