Today marks the 190th anniversary of the enactment of the British Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that abolished slavery across the British Empire. Though it was only officially recognized by the Canadian government in 2021, it has been celebrated in the Waterloo Region for much longer. For nearly two centuries, Black communities in Waterloo County, Wellesley Township, and Queen’s Bush have gathered on August 1st to mark the occasion with food, music, and community. In honour of Emancipation Day, read on to learn more about one of the Region’s early Black residents, James “Judge” Thompson who lived in Galt (now Cambridge).
Born into slavery in 1784 in the state of Virgina, Thompson was freed after his enslaver died. He travelled north and lived in the Niagara region for a period in the 1830s. An obituary in the Dumfries Reformer refers to his participation in abolitionist organizing there. Described as “one of the ring-leaders” of an 1836 riot where a slave was taken from the “officers of justice” and prevented they from being handed over to an American trying to take them back to slavery. Thompson hid the freedom seeker in his house for several days, preventing them from being re-enslaved.
In the 1850s, census records show Thompson living in Galt with his wife Lucy Thompson, also formerly enslaved, and their eight children. Working as both a barber and a pastor, he was described as “instrumental” in the founding of the Black Baptist Church, which stood on Ainslie Street.
Thompson’s oldest son, James H. “Judge” Thompson, took up both of his father’s professions, becoming a barber and a Baptist preacher. His congregation became the Galt Baptist Church which eventually became known as the South Water Street Baptist Church, following their move to 47 Water St S. This heritage-designated building still stands in Cambridge today and is the home of the Cambridge Arts Theatre.
To learn more about Waterloo Region’s early Black residents and Emancipation Day, check out this reading list
Bridget
Senior Library Assistant, Grace Schmidt Room