Fonds glen-3071 - Nisbet family fonds

Thomas Nisbet, a master shipbuilder from Rutherglen on the Clyde in Scotland, settled with his family at Oakville, Ontario in 1844. He had at least four children: Henry, Thomas, James, and Isabella. Henry studied theology at Cheshunt College in England, and by 1841 had embarked on a career as a missionary in Samoa. Thomas and Isabella remained near the family home in Oakville. James Nisbet, 1823-1874, studied theology at Knox College, Toronto, graduating in 1849, and served as pastor of the Presbyterian congregation at Oakville. In 1862 he moved to the Red River Settlement to assist the Rev. John Black at his mission. In 1864 he married Mary MacBeth of Kildonan; they had four children. In 1866 he established a mission on the North Saskatchewan River, sixty miles below Fort Carlton, which he named Prince Albert. It became the nucleus of the settlement of Prince Albert. Further information on the life of James Nisbet can be found in his entry in the dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10.