Date Published:
March 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

James Croil

Croil, James (1821-1916), historian and journalist, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on September 4, 1821, the third son of James Croil, a West India merchant. He was educated at Glasgow University, and came to Canada in 1841. For twenty-three years he was a farmer at Crysler's Farm, Williamsburg, Upper Canada ; and he was then appointed general agent of the Church of Scotland in Canada. Later he was the editor of the Presbyterian, the official organ of the Presbyterian Church in Canada ; and he remained an official of the church until 1891. He died at Montreal on November 28, 1916. He was the author of Dundas, a sketch of Canadian history (Montreal, 1861), Historical and statistical report of the Church of Scotland in Canada (Montreal, 1867), The life of Rev. Alexander Mathieson (Montreal, 1870), The story of the kirk in the maritime provinces (published in the Presbyterian, Montreal, 1875), The missionary problem (Toronto, 1883), Steam navigation (Toronto, 1898), and The genesis of the churches in the United States of America, in Newfoundland, and in the Dominion of Canada (Montreal, 1907).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 151.