The Reverend John Bethune, (1751 ~ Sept. 23, 1815), founded the first Presbyterian Church in Montreal.
Born into a well-respected family on the Isle of Skye, he was a son of Angus Bethune and Christian Campbell. Though descended from the Lairds of Balfour, he needed scholarships to keep him at King's College (University of Aberdeen).
He immigrated to North Carolina from Scotland in 1773. He was a loyalist sympathizer and was recruited as Chaplain to the 1st battalion of the Royal Highland Emigrants. He saw action at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in February 1776 and was captured by the victorious rebels. He was subsequently released and eventually made his way to Montreal, where he re-joined the 1st battalion, once again as chaplain. Upon demobilization in 1784 he ministered to a small band of Presbyterian Scots and in 1786 established the first Presbyterian Church in Montreal. In 1787 he moved to what later became Upper Canada where he devoted the remainder of his life to his ministry among the Highland loyalist settlers in Glengarry County. [1]
He and his wife, Véronique Waddens, daughter of Jean-Étienne Waddens, were the parents of a well known group of brothers who included:
Angus Bethune (1783-1858), a well known fur trader and chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company; John Bethune (1791-1872), acting principal of McGill University for over ten years and the Dean of Montreal; Strachan Bethune Q.C., an influential lawyer and the 1st Chancellor of Christ Church, Montreal; James Gray Bethune (1793-1841), a banker and businessman in Upper Canada; Alexander Neil Bethune (1800-1879), Bishop of Toronto; Donald Bethune (1802-1869), founded a shipping firm in Upper Canada
He was the great great grandfather of Norman Bethune, the Canadian physician and medical innovator.