1 Rev. William Proudfoot

Presbyterian minister and educator William Proudfoot (1788-1851) was born near Peebles, Scotland. Ordained in 1813, he served as a priest and teacher in Scotland. In 1832, Proudfoot applied for a missionary posting in Canada, and moved to a farm near London, Upper Canada (Ontario). In 1834, he founded the Missionary Presbytery of the Canadas in connection with the United Associate Synod of the Secession Church in Scotland. In 1844, he opened a divinity school in London to train Canadian clergy. Proudfoot also helped create new congregations and founded the Presbyterian Magazine. Despite his fears that the values of the Missionary Presbytery would be compromised by a merger, in 1847 it was joined with the newly formed United Presbyterian Church in Canada. The London seminary was moved to Toronto in 1850, and Proudfoot travelled there regularly to teach while retaining his congregation in London. He died in Toronto in January 1851.

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