History

St. George from the AirThe story of St. George’s Anglican Church began in 1859, when the Hudson Bay Company’s chaplain, the Reverend W.B. Crickmer, built a church at Derby, three miles west of the present town of Fort Langley and the original site of the Hudson Bay Company’s fort. By 1871, the colony at Derby had dwindled and Reverend Crickmer returned to England. In 1879, the church was moved across the Fraser River to Maple Ridge. This same year, the Diocese of New Westminster was formed under Bishop Sillitoe and the Langley parish came under the charge of the Reverend William Bell, who conducted services in the school house and in the Big House at the Fort.

St George 1908In 1889, St. Alban’s Church was built in Milner to serve the Langley Parish, which included Langley, Milner, Fort Langley and Glen Valley. Then in 1900, a church committee was formed to plan and build an Anglican Church in Fort Langley.

The following year, work on the present building was completed and Bishop John Dart conducted the first service in St. George’s on October 15th, 1901. The site of this new church was once part of the Hudson Bay Company’s farm and it was here that a number of the early pioneers were buried.
In 1908, St. George’s was consecrated and in 1912 the Good Shepherd window above the altar was installed and the chancel enlarged. Discussion about the need for a parish hall began in 1909, but it was not until 1947, after two World Wars and the Depression, that funds were allocated and excavation started. In 1953, an addition to the hall was completed and the new church heating system installed. The church was originally heated by two wood stoves one located along the north wall towards the back of the church, and one at the front by the chancel step.

Once part of a multi-church parish that included St. Andrew’s, St. Alban’s and St. Dunstan’s, St. George’s became an independent parish within the Diocese of New Westminster in September 1987.