Common short forms: WM, Meth
This church came into existence in 1833 by a union between British Wesleyans and part of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. It was part of the 1874 union forming the Methodist Church of Canada.
The data below includes some Wesleyan material before 1833.
Peterborough was in Cobourg district until 1857, when Peterborough District was created. The UCA does not have any District Minutes for Cobourg prior to 1857. It does have Peterborough District Minutes for 1858-63, 1865-68, 1870-72. Some congregations listed here are in Lindsay District for which the UCA has minutes for 1876-88, and some are in Cobourg District for which the UCA has minutes for 1857-63, 1865-68, 1870-72. None of the District Minutes have been checked for this work.
See Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register, Peterborough Co 1825-1896 - OGS(Kawartha) (2001) ISBN 0-7779-2052-2 for a listing of baptisms performed by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada up to 1874, the Methodist Church of Canada 1874-1884, and the Methodist Church (Canada) after 1884. Read the Introduction and Users’ Guide carefully!
Much of the information below comes from Cornish, Rev George H - Cyclopedia of Methodism in Canada, vol 1 (1881) UCA: BX8251.C6, and the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Reports (WMMS). The WMMS Reports cover June to June; the first year is the one listed here. In each year there are two parts: reports from some of the missions which often list the number of appointments (preaching places) and usually mentions if a church was built in the year (but infuriatingly often does not say where!); and lists of donors, not only from missions but also from self-sustaining circuits. Since the lists of preaching places usually comes from the lists of donors, the absence of a preaching place does not necessarily mean it no longer exists, just that no donations were recorded. I have used the phrase “consists of at least ....” to emphasize this point. All information from WMMS is marked (WMMS).