After the war of 1812 Britain undertook plans for colonization in Canada. Many people from Glasgow were chosen and they sailed about the middle of July 1815. Some of these people settled at Perth. Veterans and others kept arriving and by September 1816 Colonel Francis Cockburn, Assistant Quarter-Master General, recommended that another military depot be established in a new settlement. A site in the south-east corner of Goulbourn Township was chosen and this became Richmond. Richmond was settled by veterans of the 99th Regiment and their families.

Part of the Perth settlement agreement had been that a Presbyterian minister would be provided for the area. Rev. William Bell was chosen and arrived in Perth in June 1817. At a Presbytery meeting in Brockville on Sunday, March 10, 1822, Mr. Bell was commissioned to visit Richmond.

The Rev. Andrew Glen was the first minister of any denomination to reside in Richmond. St. Andrew’s, Richmond, was originally part of a joint charge of Richmond, Goulbourn and North Gower. Between 1857 and 1866 the Presbytery of Ottawa was formed consisting of Huntley, Richmond, Ottawa, Chelsea, Buckingham and Cumberland, Oxford, South Gower & Mountain, Spencerville, L’Original and Hawkesbury.

A brick church was built in Richmond in 1884 on the same spot as the original building. By 1925 only Richmond and Stittsville were part of this charge. This joint charge of Richmond/Stittsville continued until 1989 when Richmond and Stittsville each became a single point charge.

Additional detail from our church’s history can be found HERE