San Francisco County
Biographies
REV. ARTHUR
J. CHILD
Coming to San Francisco with years of experience in pioneering for his religious denomination, Rev. Arthur J. Child, now pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in this city, is known as one of the most capable and sincere clergymen of the bay district. He was born in the county of Norfolk, in England and at the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow, Scotland, in addition to which he took a five-year course at Emanuel College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was ordained as a deacon September 25, 1910, and as a priest June 8, 1912.
On the vast prairie stretches of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Rev. Child was one of the pioneers of his church, enduring hardships to test the mettle of the strongest man in order to carry the holy work to the settlements. It was in the fall of 1907 that he and fifty-five other students were sent by the Church of England to Saskatchewan, Canada, which was a new country, to care for and administer to the early settlers who had emigrated there. The land was very sparsely settled, and those who lived there earned their livelihood by wheat raising.
For the first three years, Rev. Child was the only man in his district who had a horse; all of the others, mostly farmers, had only their oxen, with which they plowed their land. Parishes were established. The church houses were small, seating about seventy-five people each, and were constructed of sod taken from the prairie ground. They resembled very much the old adobe shelters of early California. Rev. Child passed fifteen years in Canada, doing arduous and valuable work. He became rector of Humboldt, Condie and Arcola and later of the parishes of St. John’s and St. Mark’s in the city of Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta, Canada. In 1922, he came to the state of California, and was sent to the town of Dunsmuir, in Siskiyou county, to reorganize the mission of that community. There he constructed a new church rectory, costing four thousand dollars. He was next sent to Napa, California, to St. Mary’s Church, and in this place he raised the funds and promoted the building of an excellent new house of worship, which has recently been dedicated. On March 18, 1930, he began his work at All Saints Church in San Francisco, situated at 1354 Waller street. The fine quality of his services here is indicated by the fact that the Sunday school attendance has increased from fifty to one hundred and fifty-nine, a growth of over threefold. There are seven hundred and fifty people altogether within the parish. Situated in the Asbury Heights district, the congregation has progressed amazingly. The church has the largest volunteer choir of any Episcopal Church in the city. Rev. Child has introduced the Girl Scouts troop and the Boys’ Cub Pack, the Young People’s Fellowship, and the Children’s Choir, also many other features which have enhanced the attractiveness of this church organization. A history of All Saints Church is presented upon other pages of this publication.
On April 18, 1911, Rev. Child was married to Elizabeth P. Hollingdale, who was born in London, England. Both Rev. and Mrs. Child received their American citizenship papers while they were in Napa, California. Mrs. Child has worked by her husband’s side throughout the years of his pastoral work, and has been of inestimable assistance to him through hardship and in prosperity. They have become the parents of one son, Arthur H., who was born in 1922. Rev. Child has played well the role of a citizen of San Francisco in addition to his meritorious church labors, and his support is assured on every question of real worth to the community.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 3 Pages 212-214.
© 2008 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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