Tom Thomson’s boyhood church, Leith United

A Visit to Leith United Church – Tom Thomson’s Roots

I recently visited the small hamlet of Leith, Ontario, and the family church of one of my favourite artists, Tom Thomson—Leith United Church. Originally built as a Presbyterian church in 1865, this modest, but well maintained red brick building holds a quiet but significant place in Canadian cultural history.

As a boy, Tom Thomson sang in the church choir, joined by other members of his family. One of my favourite anecdotes about Thomson comes from these early days: during services, he would sometimes sketch in the family hymn book, amusing his sisters with playful caricatures of neighbours and fellow congregants. Perhaps an early signs of the artist he would become.

In 1925, the church’s Presbyterian congregation joined the historic union that formed The United Church of Canada, and it became known as Leith United Church.

Tom Thomson’s body was initially buried in the Mowat Cemetery overlooking Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park after his death in 1917, but was later exhumed and re-interred in the family plot at Leith United churchyard.