Matthew Richey Knight

1854-1926

Reverend Matthew Richey Knight was born 21 April 1854 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died on 27 January 1926 in Hants County, Nova Scotia. Knight received primary and secondary education from schools in Dartmouth and Halifax and then obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Allison University in 1875. He played a role in the founding of Mount Allison’s student newspaper, The Argosy, and served as the first editor-in-chief.  After teaching for two years at various public schools across the Maritimes, Knight began practicing Methodist ministry and was received as a probationer in Souris, Prince Edward Island. He was ordained in Charlottetown in 1879 and later practiced in ministries throughout New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Upon retiring in 1921, he was appointed as a superannuated minister.  Knight’s poetry appeared in various anthologies, journals, and magazines such as Harper’s Magazine; The Methodist Magazine Devoted to Religion, Literature, and Social Progress; Younger American Poets; and the New York Independent.  Poems of Ten Years (1887) is his only collection of poetry. He founded and operated various literary magazines in New Brunswick including Canada: A Monthly Journal of Religion, Patriotism, Science, and Literature, first published in January 1891 in Benton, New Brunswick, and ended in July 1892 in Hampton, New Brunswick. In 1896, Knight published a stamp-collection journal, Philatelic Messenger and Monthly Advisor, which circulated between Boiestown and St. Stephen, New Brunswick for five years. In 1901 Knight became the founder and editor-in-chief of the Boiestown Record, publishing a single issue on Christmas day. Knight returned to his native Nova Scotia in 1912. In 1921 he retired at Avondale, Hants Co., where he died in 1926, at age seventy-one.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Sackville, Hampton, Boiestown