The City of Cambridge Cambridge • Ontario • Canada

Hall of Fame Members

Rev. Canon Michael Boomer

Inducted 2002

The Rev. Michael Boomer as born at Hill Hall near Lisburn, County Down, Ireland in 1810. He was educated at Belfast Royal Academical Institution and graduated with a M.A from Trinity College, Dublin in 1838. He subsequently received his L.L.D degree from the same college and was ordained a deacon in 1840 and an Anglican priest in 1841. He was described as a "scholarly man, of fine presence and possessing a deep, rich voice was a good reader and preacher". He was appointed a missionary for the propagation of the Gospel by the Right Rev. Dr. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto and arrived in Galt in 1840 to take over the newly formed Trinity Anglican Parish. He oversaw the building of the church building that was completed in 1844. Rev. Boomer was instrumental, directly and indirectly, in establishing all of the Anglican churches in Cambridge and North Dumfries. He was also responsible, through William Jaffray, for the establishment of St. John the Evangelist Church in Berlin. Indeed, all the Anglican churches in Waterloo Region, save one, can trace its roots back to Trinity Anglican Church and the expansion drive begun by Rev. Boomer. In 1842 Rev. Boomer was named a Commissioner of Schools for the Township of North Dumfries and in 1845 became the third member of the Galt Public School Board. He was also one of the first trustees of the newly formed Galt Grammar School later known as Galt Collegiate Institute. He remained in charge of Trinity Anglican Church for well over 30 years leaving finally in 1872 to move to London, Ontario where he became Dean of Huron. He died in London, Ontario on March 4, 1888 and is buried in the London Cemetery.