REV. WILLIAM ROCHE 
     
     1841 - 1843 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rev. William Roche came to Prince Edward Island from England late in 1841, and was 
     
     appointed the first resident missionary of Port Hill. At that time, no parsonage was available. 
     
     Although people in the area offered him accommodation, he chose to live in Charlottetown and 
     
     make the journey to Port Hill by horseback each weekend. The distance was fifty-four miles — 
     
    

    
     two days each way - a highly unsatisfactory arrangement. Rev. Roche, who was receiving less 
     
     than one hundred pounds per year, resigned the mission shortly after completing his first year 
     
    
   
   
    
     of ministry in Port Hill. 
     
    
   
   
    
     REV. WILLIAM HENRY COOPER 
     
     1846 - 1853 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rev. William Henry Cooper, son of James and Ann (Skeet) Cooper, was born on 
     
     November 28, 1816 at Stonehouse in Devon, England. He was christened at Dartmouth in 
     
     Devon County in May of 1817. It appears the family had moved to Newfoundland, since Rev. 
     
     Cooper’s younger brother, George Frederic, was born at St. John’s on October 10, 1819. 
     
    

    
     Rev. W.H. Cooper, a graduate of King’s College in Windsor, was ordained by Bishop 
     
     John Inglis on August 2, 1846 at St. Paul’s Church in Charlottetown. Following this ordination, 
     
     the first to be carried out on Prince Edward Island, Rev. Cooper became the first resident rector 
     
     of Port Hill. The stone house in which he lived was built on the parsonage farm located on the 
     
     Cooper Road. Both the Cooper Road and the wharf at its extremity were named in honor of 
     
     Rev. Cooper. 
     
    

    
     While serving as a missionary in Spain, Rev. Cooper met his wife, Josepha Mary 
     
     Magdalene who was born at Malaga on July 22, 1814. Three children were born to the couple: 
     
     Josepha Mary Magdalene born September 7, 1847; William Henry Cranmer born July 1, 1849; 
     
     James Warburton born May 11, 1853. 
     
    
   
   
    
     63