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The Kirk of Saint James, at the corner of Pownal and Fitzroy Streets, has been a place of Presbyterian worship since 1831. This Congregation is the mother church of Presbyterianism in this part of Prince Edward Island and it has endeavoured to maintain the noblest traditions of the worship and witness of the Church of Scotland. When the British assumed control of He Saint Jean, settlers from the British Isles began to make their way across the Atlantic. Although Presbyterians arrived on the Island from Western Scotland as early as 1770, it was not until 1791 that a minister from Pictou, Nova Scotia, the Reverend James MacGregor, was able to provide occasional visits to the fledgling congregation in Charlotte Town. In the thirty years that followed, Mr. MacGregor made numerous visits until other ministers came in sufficient numbers to make possible the establishment of a Presbytery in 1821.

In the late 1770’s, funds were sent out by the Imperial Government in London for the erection of a church at Charlotte Town. Instead, these monies were used to pay the overdue salaries of government officials. Consequently, for the remainder of the eighteenth century, services of worship were conducted occasionally by visiting ministers in the Crossed Keys Tavern, which was situated in the vicinity of the present north-east comer of Queen and Dorchester Streets, in public buildings and in private homes in Charlotte Town. In 1796, additional funds arrived from overseas and work began at last on the building of a place to worship on the western part of Queen’s Square for the use of the Established Church of England and the Church of Scotland. This building stggé f9! thirty-six years and was used by the Presbyterians for the first twenty-five years of that period.

In 1825, a separate Presbyterian congregation was founded in Charlotte Town. The first record of this congregation is a public meeting held in the old Court House in June, 1825. At this meeting, it was unanimously resolved to open a subscription list to obtain monies for the building of a church. It was also resolved to apply to the Established Church of Scotland for the appointment of “a learned and pious clergyman.” The Honourable John Stewart, Speaker of the House of Assembly, made the offer of a town lot on behalf of its owner, Alexander Birnie of London, England and Mr. William Johnson offered an adjoining lot. These offers were gratefully accepted and the first Kirk was completed in 1831. The deed for this land was written on heavy vellum paper with a quill pen and is dated September 30, 1825. It is stored for safekeeping with other valuables of the congregation. In 1790, the land had been owned by Dr. Alexander Gordon, the son-in-law of the first Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, Walter Patterson.