The Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE) is an Anglican religious order for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford, England, by Father Richard Meux Benson, a priest in the Church of England, and Father Charles Chapman Grafton. Known colloquially as the Cowley Fathers, the society was the first stable religious community of men to be established in the Anglican Communion since the English Reformation.

The SSJE was founded in Canada by Roland Palmer SSJE as a daughter house of the congregation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.  The first Mission House was established in Emsdale in 1927.  In 1928, the community moved to Bracebridge in Muskoka where they were situated until Easter 1983 when they moved to Hamilton, Ontario. In 1984, it was decided that the members of the SSJE in Canada would join the Mother House in Cambridge.  The properties in Canada were sold and the Canadian Chapter closed.

The SSJE in Canada lead retreats, quiet days, parish missions, conferences, and workshops across Canada, and participated in church related works.  They also ran a printshop. One of the regular publications was a newletter entitled, The Little Paper.

Fonds consists of Statutes and incorporation records, Chapter minutes, estate files, member files, correspondence, legal documents, financial records, printed materials, photographs, and audio-visual materials.

Title based on contents of fonds.

Handwritten.

Typescript.

Printed.

Ralph Trego Sadler fonds M79-9