Bennet, James, 1817-1901

James Bennet was born on January 17, 1817, in Boardmills, Down County, Northern Ireland.

He was a Presbyterian clergyman, editor, and author. He received his undergraduate degree at the classical school of the Belfast Academical Institution. He pursued studies in theology in Belfast, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, received into the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1840, and ordained at Tassagh in 1843. In 1854, he moved to Canada and took up the post of minister in the Saint John Presbyterian Church located in Saint John, New Brunswick where he stayed until his retirement in 1882. He also worked as an editor and author at the Colonial Presbyterian and Protestant Journal and the Saint John Daily Telegraph. Bennet played a pivotal role in the development of the Free Church Synod, the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, and his most enduring legacy was his contribution to the development of church union. He received a D.D. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina, in 1877.

He died on June 29, 1901, in Saint John, New Brunswick.