Rev. Canon Thomas N. Nisbett, OBE (born on October 24, 1925) is a carpenter/cabinet maker/house builder and Anglican priest. Born in North Village, Pembroke, Bermuda, he was the first Black Anglican priest of the Anglican Church of Bermuda

Anglican Church of Bermuda

The Anglican Church of Bermuda consists of twelve parishes and is a part of the Anglican Communion, though part of no ecclesiastical province. Currently, the Rt Rev Patrick White oversees the Island's ministry....

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Parentage and career

His parents, now deceased, were Elijah John Nisbett b. 13 Oct 1892 in Cedar Hill Village, St. George, Nevis

Nevis

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...

, WI, and Adina Miller b. 14 Feb 1898 in Nevis, WI.

Elijah Nisbett left Nevis in 1922 and went to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 where he stayed with friends until he could build a house on St. Monica's Road across from the St. Monica's Mission Church: Adina, and daughters Mavis and Lauret immigrated to Bermuda in 1923.

Thomas Nisbett was educated at Central School, Bermuda, and Codrington College

Codrington College

Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados. It was founded by Christopher Codrington, who after his death in 1710 left portions of his 'estates' - two slave labour plantations on Barbados and areas of Barbuda - to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in...

, Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

http://www.codrington.org/cms/.

In his younger years, Mr. Nisbett was a member of the popular Bermudian a cappella singing group, the Nisbett Brothers.

He has held a number of key ecclesiastical and community positions in both Barbados and Bermuda, and he was designated an Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (OBE) in 1992.

Family relationships

Thomas Nisbett was married to Winifred M. G. (née Smith) Nisbett, Cert. Ed., B.Sc., M.Ed., on August 4, 1954, a primary school teacher, and former President of the Bermuda Reading Association and a Past Chairman of the International Reading Association Caribbean Committee, New Orleans, LA.

They have two sons, Thomas W. L. Nisbett, a businessman living in New Brunswick, Canada, and Michael John Nisbett, an administrator with the Bermuda Hospitals Board living in Pembroke, Bermuda.

Michael John Nisbett is the Owner/Webmaster of Christian Resource Centre at Christian Resource Centre at www.nisbett.com.

His granddaughter, is Canadian singer/songwriter, Chelsea Nisbett .

An interview with Canon Nisbett can be seen at Canon Thomas Nisbett profile.

The sermon preached by the Right Rev. Ewen Ratteray, Anglican Bishop of Bermuda, at the Celebration in thanksgiving for the 40th Anniversary of the Ordination of the Rev. Canon Thomas Nisbett on 11 January, 2004, can be found at www.anglican.bm/2004-02.html