1883-12-17if

In an attempt to make order out of time, it was decided by the government to institute an order of standard time for every community. The standard time was to be implemented in November, 1883, requiring an adjustment of twenty minutes to bring its clocks in conformation with the rest of the province.

In Hamilton, the introduction of standard time posed a conundrum for churches across as to when to commence their Sunday services on November 18, 1883.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Lyle of the Central Presbyterian Church stated his intention to start his service using the standard time on that Sunday morning, even though it was not to officially begin at midnight that day.

“On the other hand, Rev. A. Langford of the First Methodist Church chose to start at what would still be the ‘proper time’ that Sunday morning:

“He thought the clocks of the citizens would not be changed till after Sunday, and, consequently it would be advisable to conduct the services in the old time; by the time a week had passed over, the people would become used to the change and there would be no difficulty.”¹

¹ “Church Time : The Old or the New, That is the Question Among Ministers”

Hamilton Spectator.    November 17, 1883.

The Hamilton Spectator pointed out that it would not be pleasant to arrive at church only to discover that one had to wait twenty minutes for it to begin, or, conversely, arrive when the service had  already in progress for twenty minutes:

“The Spectator takes the liberty of advising the minsters to accept the new time, or else retain the old, and which ever they do, let the people know by this evening.”¹

The Spectator’s suggestion was positive in spirit but difficult in put into effect, as other than the daily newspapers, there was no city-wide way of communicating such news in a timely way.

There was indeed some confusion when services began the following day.