Parish of Holy Martyrs of Japan Church (By Rev. C. J. Cerrone) The first record of organized Catholic worship int he township of West Gwillimbury is a land deed, dated February 18th, 1837, whereby John McGann sold a part of Lot 12 on the Ninth Concession to Garrett Molloy, James Cronan and Thomas Cronan, in trust for the use of the Catholic Church in that township. A Catholic burying grounds was here established, and shortly afterwards a small frame church, dedicated to St. Francis De Sales, was built. This church was dismantled around 1885, but the cemetery is still in use. This original church was served from time to time in those early days by priests from Tecumseth, Toronto, Barrie and Newmarket, who also had "stations" int he district. These were the private homes of the early settlers, where Catholic neighbours gather for holy Mass when a missionary priest was available. Some of the stations were at the O'Donnell and Moriarty homesteads. In 1857 Bradford was incorporated as a village, and six years later the Catholic families purchased three lots on Queen Street, running west from Moore Street. The old church a small brick building was built int he centre of this property by Rev. G. A. Christie, parish priest of Newmarket; and blessed in 1864 by Bishop John Joseph Lynch of Toronto. It was dedicated to the Twenty-sex Martyrs of Japan who had been canonized at an historic ceremony in Rome two years earlier, at which Bishop Lynch had been present. Holy Martyr's Church was served in the ensuing years from St. John Chrysotom's Parish, Newmarket; holy Mass was offered once or twice a month for the early years. Succeeding Father Christie, the first pastor, were Rev. T. O'Donoghue (1865-67); Rev. P. J. Kain (1867-76); Rev. W. R. Harris (1876-85); Rev. James Beausang (1885-86); Rev. Denis Morris (1891-1901); Rev. Patrick Whitney (1901-14); Rev. Matthew Wedlock (1914-35); and Rev. W. D. Muckle, S.T.D. (1935-40). In the fall of 1940, the mission church at Bradford was separated from St. John's parish, Newmarket, and erected into a separate parish, with Rev. Melville Bolan as its first parish priest. For the first four years Father Bolan lived in Aurora, where he was also chaplain for the Christian Brothers at their motherhouse, but in 1945 he moved to Bradford and resided at the home of Mr. Dennis Nolan. During Father Bolan's years as parish priest (1940-1949), the Catholic families were consolidated; the development of the marsh brought a large number of new-Canadian families to the parish to increase the number of the original Irish and Anglo-Saxon Catholic families of the highland farms. A mission church, dedicated to St. James the Less, was built at Ansnorveld, a settlement on the east side of the Holland River, on the third concession of King Township. A signal benefactor of this mission church was the late Mr. John Copeland of Toronto. In the early summer of 1949 Father Bolan bought the large home and grounds at Barrie and Letitia Streets from Mr. Gilbert Lukes, as a parish house and site for a future Catholic school. The parish priest when the present new church was built, Rev. F. R. McGinn, was appointed the second resident pastor on July 1st, 1949, and took up his residence in the new parish house on Barrie Street. In January, 1950, a Separate School Board was formed, and during the ensuing summer a two roomed school was built on the grounds of the old Lukes estate; which has been deeded over to the School Board by the parish. The Catholic School, known as St. Mary's, Wueen of Martyr's was opened in September, 1950, with an enrollment of 53 pupils. In August of that year four Ursuline Sisters had arrived from Chatham, to make a foundation at Bradford and to take charge of the new school. The sisters bought the parish house and converted it into their convent, which was blessed by Cardinal McGuigan in September, 1950, on the occasion of the blessing of the new school, and was placed under the patronage of St. Mary of the Assumption. The Sisters also began a School of Music and a Private Kindergarten in the convent. In the spring of 1951 the present Rectory was completed, the old church was renovated and enlarged with the addition of a small sacristy. The parish continued to grow, due especially to the post war immigration, particularly of Dutch families; the separate school was enlarged to become a six room school with attendance of 258 pupils. The Augustinian Fathers from Marylake came to assist every Sunday, as the number of Masses increased to three. A campaign for funds for this new church was begun in 1954, but had to be abandoned because of the disastrous flood in October, but in the next year a new effort was begun in conjunction with the Cardinal's Jubille Campaign; finally on October 3rd, 1956 the first sod for this new building was turned, resulting in the completion, by May 5th, 1957. The church seats about 400 and is of modern design with sandfaced brick.
