Working-Class Anglicans: Religion and Identity in Victorian and Edwardian Hamilton, Ontario
Authors
Edward Smith
Abstract
St. Luke's Anglican Church came into being in Hamilton's north-end in the summer
of 1882, as Hamilton's working class was entering the second phase of Canadian
industrialization. Urban geography, class, and ethnicity were factors in the establishment
of the parish in this singularly working-class district of the city, which
included a high proportion of immigrants. Into the mix were also thrown differing
conceptions of Anglican parishes held by clergy and laity. For the congregation of
St. Luke's, a local parish church became important to creating an identity separate
from older, more established congregations dominated by elite Canadian Anglicans.
