Town of Georgina
Knox Church Cemetery
Knox Church Cemetery is located on Lot 2, Conc. 7, in the Town of Georgina, at the corner of Market Street and Church Streets in Sutton.
In 1858 the land, on which Knox Church stands, was donated "To the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church" by James O'Brien Bourchier (1797-1872). Mr. Bourchier had already given the land for St. James Anglican Church and it is said that his wife being a Presbyterian influenced this gesture on his part.
The Anglicans in the community had been served by St. George's Church which had been built in 1858. The Presbyterian families had been worshipping in homes of those interested. At the request of these sturdy Kirk families, Dr. Watson of the Stone Church at Beaverton, established a mission in Sutton in 1860.
"Knox Church", a neat red brick structure, was built in 1863 at a cost of $2 000.00, seating 250 persons. This church was served regularly by Thorah Presbytery under Dr. Watson. In 1865, Feb. 21, Knox was constituted as a Congregation.
Some of the active members on the roll of this early congregation were the Aird family, McDonald, Ego, Donnell, Rae, Cameron, Kay, Chalmers, Latimer, Percy, Munro, Burrows, Scott, Bissett, McMaster, Cronsberry, Sinclair, Nelson, Cockburn, Galbraith, Leigh, Riddell, Keir, Park, McLelland, Defoe, Brown, Crawford, White, McCairn, and Hill.
In June 1925, the United Church came into being and Wesley Methodist and Knox Presbyterian Churches officially joined to form the present Knox United Church.
The Sutton Methodist Church had been started in 1875 under Rev. W. Torrance, although the Primitive Methodists had a mission in Sutton a few years earlier. Some families connected to the Methodist Church were: Pringles, Boadway, Horner, King, and Hamilton.
In January 1956 the interior of Knox Church was burned, the cause was believed, by an over-heated furnace.
The corner stone for a new church was laid on September 30, 1956 and the church was dedicated January 13, 1957 by Moderator, Right Rev. James S. Thomson.
When building the new church in 1956 several of the stones and remains were moved to a new location in the north corner of the cemetery. This information was obtained by Mr. Les Burrows, along time member of the congregation.
This cemetery is closed to burial and is maintained by the Knox Church congregation. Knox Cemetery contains approximately 60 to 75 burials. The Legal Description of Knox United Church and Cemetery as supplied by the Town of Georgina is 36 Market Square, 25437.00 Square Footage, 50.00 Foot Frontage, and 185.00 Feet Deep.
Source: Georgina Advocate - Our History December 1992. Reproduced with permission