James Croil

author

James Croil

1821–1916

A Scottish-born Presbyterian minister who made his life in Canada, he wrote warmly about church history and the people who shaped it. His work offers a close-up view of 19th-century religious life in Newfoundland, Montreal, and beyond.

1 Audiobook

Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

by James Croil

About the author

Born in Scotland in 1821, James Croil later settled in Canada and became a Presbyterian minister. He is remembered both for his ministry and for writing books that preserved the stories of churches and religious leaders in British North America.

Among the works linked to him are Genesis of Churches in the United States of America, in Newfoundland and the Dominion of Canada and The Life of the Rev. Alex. Mathieson, D.D., Minister of St. Andrew's Church, Montreal. Those titles suggest the kind of writer he was: careful, historical, and deeply interested in documenting the growth of Presbyterian communities.

A portrait associated with his biography survives from Montreal in 1866, helping place him vividly in the world he described. He died in 1916, leaving behind a body of work that still appeals to readers interested in church history, Canadian religious life, and 19th-century biography.