was altered when Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and son of King George III, was visiting Halifax as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America. Prince Edward never came to St. John’s Island but was interested in its welfare and had recently ordered its defenses to be improved. The local House of Assembly decided to honor the Prince and unanimously approved that the British province’s name be changed to Prince Edward Island. Interestingly, Prince Edward, just prior to the re-naming, suggested that St. John’s Island be joined with Nova Scotia, but his thoughts changed when he heard of the honor he was being paid. Had we, like Cape Breton (Isle Royale), become a part of Nova Scotia our name would likely still be St. John’s Island. Despite all of his good works as the British Commander in Chief in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward would still be remembered best as the father

of Queen Victoria. In the late 18th and early 19th century, a number of itinerant Baptist

evangelists, including some lay preachers, made their way to Prince Edward Island in an effort to convert individuals to the Baptist faith. The Island, with a reputation of having a wayward population, was a natural mission field for the Baptist Missionary Associations of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. At that time, the Island was represented by only two denominations: Roman Catholic, and Anglican. The Anglican’s Charlotte Parish was established in Charlotte Town in 1775, although it was not until 1800 that they built their first meeting house in the Town, called St. Paul's. Settlers continued to arrive on the Island, both as an extension of the United Empire Loyalists and as new immigrant arrivals on ships from Scotland and

Ireland. The Nova Scotia Baptist Association was organized just before the turn

of the 19th Century and was initially divided into three aligned groups: Western, Central and Eastern Baptist Associations. It was the Eastern Association whose traveling preachers made the first Baptist missionary visits to Prince Edward Island. Other Scottish Baptist preachers arrived with ships that landed directly on Island

shores. A young Baptist lay preacher by the name of John Scott arrived on

Prince Edward Island from Perthshire, Scotland, in 1806. He settled in the small community of North River, a few miles north of Charlotte Town, and was highly regarded there and in the surrounding area, as a very devoted Christian. He became known in Queens County as a wonderful Gaelic preacher, as he roamed the local communities ministering to anyone who would listen. John Scott is noted as being the first Baptist preacher to reside on Prince Edward Island. Another Scottish Baptist lay preacher, Alexander Crawford, arrived from Argyleshire as an immigrant in 1811. Crawford and Scott started a number of Christian churches which they referred to as ”Disciples of Christ”. Alexander Crawford is credited with performing the first baptism by immersion on Prince Edward Island, at Three Rivers (Montague), in 1811. Crawford also traveled the roads of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, sometimes at odds with established Baptist groups because of his radical Scottish views, before finally settling on the Island in 1914. Alexander Crawford is credited with laying the foundations of Baptist church groups at East Point, Tryon and Bedeque. The community of Bedeque is considered to be the site of the first established Baptist church on Prince Edward Island. The few believers in the area, converted by the teachings of Alexander Crawford, Joseph Crandall and TS. Harding, were joined by a few Baptist families led by a Mr. Isaac Bradshaw, who had moved to Bedeque

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