Charles Inglis Biography Quotes 11 Report mistakes

Overview
Charles Inglis (1734-1816) was an Irish-born Church of England clergyman whose career spanned the upheavals of the American Revolution and the reorganization of Anglican life in British North America. Best known as the first Anglican bishop resident in what is now Canada, he became Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787 and shaped the institutional foundations of the church across the Maritime colonies and Newfoundland. A prominent Loyalist voice in New York during the Revolution, and later an energetic diocesan organizer, he linked imperial policy, ecclesiastical authority, and local parish life at a formative moment for the region.

Early Years and Ministry in the Colonies
Born in Ireland, Inglis emigrated to the American colonies as a young man and was ordained in the Church of England. He served under the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, gaining experience in frontier and town parishes before moving to New York City. There he became an assistant at Trinity Church, one of the most influential Anglican parishes in British North America. Working closely with the rector, Samuel Auchmuty, he learned how to balance pastoral duties with the political expectations of a royal metropolis.

Loyalism and the American Revolution
When imperial crisis gave way to revolution, Inglis emerged as a leading Loyalist polemicist and preacher. From the pulpit of Trinity Church he defended the constitutional bond between the colonies and the Crown and warned his congregants of the civil and religious instability that independence might bring. In 1776 he published The True Interest of America Impartially Stated, a sharply argued rebuttal to Thomas Paine's Common Sense. His arguments, grounded in scripture, history, and political economy, were addressed to lay leaders as well as officials in the circle of Governor William Tryon. After Auchmuty's death, Inglis became rector of Trinity Church in 1777, ministering to civilians, Loyalist refugees, and British officers during the occupation. When the British evacuation of New York took place in 1783 under the command of Sir Guy Carleton (later Lord Dorchester), Inglis departed the city with thousands of Loyalists, first to England and then onward to the Maritime colonies.

Creation of the Bishopric and Move to Nova Scotia
Inglis advocated for a resident episcopate to serve the church in British North America, arguing that scattered clergy and new Loyalist settlements needed structured oversight. With the approval of King George III and senior church leaders in England, he was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787. His diocese initially encompassed not only Nova Scotia but also New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, and for a time extended to other parts of British North America until separate jurisdictions were created. He established his base in Nova Scotia, working with colonial officials such as Lieutenant-Governor John Parr and, later, Sir John Wentworth to align church development with the settlement of Loyalist communities.

Building the Church in the Maritimes
Inglis approached his vast diocese as a system to be built. He surveyed the needs of parishes old and new, encouraged the construction and repair of churches, and secured stipends and glebes with the help of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He recruited clergy from Britain and the colonies, mentored promising candidates, and arranged for ordinands to travel to England when necessary, since there was still no local Anglican ordination. He undertook coastal visitations by ship, confirming laity and standardizing parish practice. While committed to toleration in civil life, he argued for a clear Anglican educational and liturgical identity, sometimes putting him at odds with dissenting groups and emerging Methodist and evangelical currents in the region.

Education and King's College
Believing that a learned clergy and an educated laity were essential for social stability, Inglis championed the creation of a residential college to train clergy and provide classical instruction. With imperial backing, he helped secure a royal charter in 1789 for King's College at Windsor, Nova Scotia, the first English-speaking degree-granting institution in what would become Canada. He served as its principal patron within the diocese, defended its Anglican character, and sought endowments to ensure its permanence. This project inevitably drew him into debates about religious tests and access to higher education, debates that echoed those shaping the Episcopal Church in the United States under leaders such as William White, and that later informed the establishment of a separate bishopric at Quebec under Jacob Mountain.

Networks, Counterparts, and Public Voice
Inglis's ministry unfolded within broad transatlantic networks. In New York he had argued publicly with the ideas of Thomas Paine; as bishop he corresponded with imperial officials and churchmen in London to secure resources for scattered congregations. He recognized parallel Anglican developments in the newly independent United States, particularly the consecration of Samuel Seabury and the organization led by William White, but he pursued a distinct path suited to the Maritime colonies and the Loyalist resettlement. His episcopal style combined deference to imperial authority with practical attention to local parish realities.

Family and Continuity
The continuity of Inglis's work was reinforced by his family's deep involvement in church life. His son John Inglis entered the ministry, rose within the diocesan structures his father had created, and later became Bishop of Nova Scotia himself. This succession linked the founding generation of Loyalist-era institution-building with the maturation of a Canadian Anglican identity in the nineteenth century.

Final Years and Legacy
Inglis remained active into his later years, continuing visitations and defending the college and parishes he had nurtured. He died in Nova Scotia in 1816. By then, the diocese he first organized had grown in stability, and the church's administrative map in British North America had begun to take the shape it would retain for decades. His legacy rests on three pillars: a robust defense of Anglican and Loyalist constitutionalism during revolution; the establishment of episcopal oversight adapted to Maritime realities; and the founding of King's College, which became a lasting center of clerical and liberal education. Through these achievements, and through the efforts of figures around him from George III and Sir Guy Carleton to John Parr, Sir John Wentworth, Samuel Seabury, William White, and Jacob Mountain, Charles Inglis helped define the framework of Anglican life in Atlantic Canada and left an enduring institutional imprint on the region.

Our collection contains 11 quotes who is written by Charles, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Wisdom - Justice - Leadership - War.