in the Episcopal Church in the United States. The conference produced agreement amongst those present to proceed in accordance with the proposal. Bishop Binney visited England in 1853 in an attempt to encourage a financial commitment for the endowment of the Bishopric of Nova Scotia . While he was there he was surprised by the evidence he saw and heard of the growing support within the Church of England for the organization of Diocesan Synods. He took the opportunity of talking with a number of English Bishops and visiting colonial bishops who were actively lobbying members of Parliament to obtain legislation necessary to permit the establishment of Diocesan Synods. These initial attempts were unsuccessful in England , but they did serve a useful purpose as an indication of the direction in which the Church of England was headed. Although not present at the Quebec conference, following his trip to England , Bishop Binney did endorse the idea of the formation of individual Diocesan Synods. The of Toronto proceeded to form a Diocesan Synod , and of Quebec began work on a similar organization for his . Encouraged by a letter of congratulations from the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding his attempts to establish periodical assemblies of the clergy and laity of the , Bishop Binney moved forward to call "a visitation" in Halifax for October of 1854. Despite strong opposition put forward from St. Paul's Halifax , St. George's Halifax , and Wilmot Parish in the , the consensus of the remaining delegates was in favour of continuing these periodic assemblies. The Declaration of Principles approved in October of 1855 clearly set out that the Diocesan Synod (the name given to these periodic assemblies) was to be Provincial in its scope and representation: "We desire that the church in this colony may continue, as it has been, an integral portion of the United Church of England and Ireland."3 No representatives from any of the parishes on Prince Edward Island attended the first session of the Diocesan Assembly held in Halifax on October 15th, 1856, nor any of the subsequent sessions held until the twelfth session of the Diocesan Synod in 1875. The various Island parishes felt compelled to refrain from attending the Synod while it was legally constituted as a Diocesan Synod for the Province of Nova Scotia . Prince Edward Island was a separate colony ( and then Province from 1871) and as such possessed its own Provincial laws regulating the Church of England (Anglican Church) on the Island. The matter was complicated by the fact that the Bishop of Nova Scotia did exercise Episcopal and spiritual jurisdiction over the Church of England on Prince Edward Island . The clergy on the Island were therefore subject to the Bishop and in every way equal to the clergy in the Province of Nova Scotia in terms of their relationship to the Bishop of Nova Scotia . This point had been 21. 250 Years Young. Our Diocesan Story 1710-1960. ( Halifax , 1960) p.29. 19