The baptismal records of St. John s Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Prince Edward Island, are a treasure house for those engaged in genealogical research of Island families. These records, beginning in October 1823, and continuing up to the present day, record the history of many early families of the area centering around Belfast and extending to cover most of Southeast Queens County and much of Southwestern Kings County. In the earliest days of St. John s Church, its clergy traveled a wide circuit, and thus the church s baptismal records also include baptisms from as far away as New London, to the west, and Cape Breton, to the east. From October of 1823 up through April of 1849, the records consist of an almost unbroken series of individual baptismal entries. In addition to the name of the child, his date of birth and the date of the baptism, each entry gives the father s name, the mother s maiden name, and their place of residence.
Some entries indicate the place of baptism as well.
There is a break in the records between 1840 and 1856. This is when the Rev. McLennan returned to Scotland, and the church was awaiting a new Minister. At that point, the records switch from individual entries to a two-page columnar format in which data, notably date of birth, is sometimes missing. There are a number of duplicate entries after 1856. In several instances, the baptisms of a child appears to have been recorded at the time that it occurred, only to be repeated later on in a summary listing of all of the children from the family.