Home

Henry Rennie and his brother Robert immigrated to Canada in the 1820's from Kilsyth, ,Strlingshire, Scotland. Alexander immigrated to Canada in 1826. Henry settled on lot #35 Third Range Hinchinbrooke.

A church was built on Henry Rennie's lot around 1829, west of the school. This church became known as Black's - the name of the people who lived on the lot to the west and who had settled earlier than Henry Rennie. This church was used till Rennie's Methodist was built in 1866.

Sometime after Henry's son died in 1831, he gave one acre for a burial ground which later became Hillside Cemetery in 1924. Many of the Rennies who settled in this area are buried there. Henry's farm was passed to his nephew James (Alexander's son) as Henry's own sons had moved to the United States.

Below is a painting by Joanne Jackson Rennie from a sketch of what the homestead looked like as viewed from the Hillside Cemetery in 1881. Nowadays there is only woods and brush - the only remaining signs are the massive maple trees that lined the drive on the left hand side of the picture.


Henry Rennie
1790-1841
Robert Rennie
1794-1857

Alexander Rennie
1798-1869

The picture from the McCord Museum in Montreal: