John Beardsley  John Beardsley (April 23, 1732 Shelton, Connecticut – August 23, 1809 Kingston, New Brunswick) was a Church of England clergyman in Canada. A graduate of King's College, New York, he received ordination in England and returned in 1762 to serve Anglican congregations in Poughkeepsie, New York and Fishkill, New York. in 1778, he served as chaplain to Beverley Robinson's Loyal American Regiment  Beardsley arrived in Canada as a loyalist. He is remembered as a loyalist clergyman and father of freemasonry in New Brunswick.