Inglis, Charles

Charles Inglis was the first Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia from 1787 to 1816. Born in Glencolumbkille, County Donegal, Ireland in 1734, he moved to America sometime prior to age 21. There, he taught at an Anglican school in Pennsylvania until he was able to be ordained as a deacon and priest by the Bishop of Rochester in 1758. He then worked as a missionary in Delaware until 1766, when he became a curate at Trinity Church, New York.

Inglis was loyal to England during the American Revolutionary War, and faced hostility from American revolutionaries. However, he was kept safe when, in 1776, the British occupied New York, and in 1777, he was appointed the rector of Trinity Church upon the death of the previous. Unfortunately, he had to resign after the Americans won the war in 1783, and travelled back to England, where he stayed for three years until he was appointed the Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787.

After moving to Nova Scotia with his family, Inglis would spend the rest of his life there. Though he faced early obstacles in the form of a hostile Lieutenant Governor and clergy, his time was made easier when a fellow friendly loyalist was appointed Lieutenant Governor. As for the clergy, he instituted mandatory visitations, and invited them to discuss their ideas with him rather than dictate, and tried to interfere in their affairs as little as possible. These actions won him respect among the Nova Scotia Anglican community.

In 1788, Inglis established the King's Collegiate School, and then the University of King's College in 1789, with the express purpose of training more clergy for the Anglican church in Nova Scotia. He partially retired in 1795, moved from Halifax to Windsor, then to Aylesford, to live on a large estate, and it was there that he passed away in 1816. He had brought up his son, John, to take over for him after his death, and though this goal was not achieved immediately after his death, John eventually became the third Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1825.