Coughlan, Reverend Laurence National Historic Person
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador
Coughlan, Reverend Laurence,
© Expired
Address :
Water St., Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1965-05-17
Life Date:
0 to 1784
Other Name(s):
-
Coughlan, Reverend Laurence
(Designation Name)
Importance:
First Methodist mission in British North America (1765) at Harbour Grace, Newfoundland
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: On Water St. in small enclosure next to church Water St., Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador
Born in Ireland, Coughlan, under the inspiration of John Wesley, served for ten years as an itinerant preacher in England. When Charles Wesley challenged the validity of his ordination by a Greek bishop, he moved, in 1765, to Newfoundland and settled in Harbour Grace. Upon petition from the people of that town, he was appointed a mission of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel., having been reordained by the Bishop of London. He laboured for eight years in the Conception Bay area, establishing Methodism as a vigorous movement that had a profound effect upon Newfoundland society.