Baddow United Church History
First named after an early farming family, Eades Settlement, now called Baddow, sits in the south-west corner of the former Township of Somerville. Settled in the 1850s, Eades grew rapidly and the need for educational and worship services become evident for the families that called this area home. As one of the largest communities in Somerville, Eades comprised of two schools, S.S. #4 and S.S. #9, and two churches, Baddow Baptist and Baddow United, both built in 1874.
Unfortunately, trying to locate records of the United Church in Baddow is difficult as most of them were destroyed in a fire that also took the Methodist Parsonage in Coboconk around 1930. However, we are thankful that much information was recorded in Memories of Somerville Township that was compiled to celebrate Ontario’s Bicentennial and documented in Gladys Suggitt’s Roses and Thorns: A Goodly Heritage.
Early United Church services were held in the home of George and Eliza Eade, one of the earliest families to settle in the area and eventually services took place at the S.S. #4 school house, now the Baddow Community Centre.
Upon expansion of the congregation, land was purchased in 1873 from Mr. Dowson for $20.00 and a wood frame building was erected on the 3rd Concession. The official opening was held in October of 1874 and was received with an audience that filled the church. In 1889 the church was improved to include painted clapboard and a picket fence. In 1929 a church kitchen was built on the back, which was enlarged in 1937 and eventually insul-brick covered the clapboard.
The church closed in 1989 and joined its sister church in Coboconk, which closed in 2011. With the closure of Coboconk, the congregation joined Norland and created Hope United.
Some of the early ministers included, Rev. John Irland, Rev. Thomas Mills and Rev. Petley.
Thank you to the Hope United Church and the United Church Archives.
Baddow United Church Commemorative Plate
CKL Artifact Collection, 2001.014.020
The Baddow United Church
James A. Patterson, County of Victoria Map, 1877
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