Egerton Ryerson

Adolphus Egerton Ryerson (24 March 1803 – 19 February 1882) was a minister, educator, politician, and public education advocate in early Ontario, Canada.

He was born in Charlotteville, Norfolk County in the then-colony of Upper Canada. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at 18, and was forced to leave the home by his Anglican father. Becoming an itinerant minister - or circuit rider - in the Niagara area, his life in a politically disadvanted religion formed his tolerant views. As early as 1825 Ryerson emerged as Episcopal Methodism's most articulate defender in the public sphere by publishing articles (at first anonymously) and later books that argued against the views of Methodism's chief rival John Strachan and other members of the powerful Family Compact. Ryerson was also elected (by one vote) to serve as the founding editor of Canadian Methodism's weekly denominational newspaper, the "Christian Guardian", established in York, Upper Canada in 1829. Ryerson used the paper to argue for the rights of Methodists in the province and, later, to help convince rank-and-file Methodists that a merger with British Wesleyans (effected in 1833) was in their best interest. Ryerson was castigated by the reformist press at that time for apparently abandoning the cause of reform and becoming, at least as far as they were concerned, a Tory. Ryerson resigned the editorship in 1835 only to assume it again at his brother John's urging from 1838 to 1840. In 1840 Ryerson allowed his name to stand for re-election one last time but was soundly defeated a vote of 50 to 1 in favour of his co-religionist Jonathan Scott.

Ryerson helped found the Upper Canada Academy in Cobourg in the 1830s. When it was incorporated in 1841 under the name Victoria College Ryerson assumed the presidency. Victoria continues to exist as part of the University of Toronto. Ryerson also fought for many secularization reforms, to keep power and influence away from any one church, particularly the Church of England in Upper Canada which had pretentions to establishment. Ryerson's advocacy of Methodism contributed to the eventual sale of the Clergy Reserves--large tracts of land that had been set aside for the "maintenance of the Protestant clergy" under the Constitutional Act of 1791.

Such secularization also led to the widening of the school system into public hands. Governor General Sir Charles Metcalfe asked him to become Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada in 1844. It is in this role that Ryerson made his historical mark.His study of educational systems elsewhere in the Western world led to three School Acts, which would revolutionize education in Canada. His major innovations included libraries in every school, an educational journal and professional development conventions for teachers, a central textbook press using Canadian authors, and securing land grants for universities.

Ryerson's legacy within Canada's education system also included the hand he played in the implementation of the controversial Canadian residential school system. It was his study of Native education commissioned in 1847 by the Assistant Superintendent General of Indian Affairs that would become the model upon which Residential Schools were built.

The Normal School at St. James Square was founded in Toronto in 1847, and became the province's foremost teacher's academy. It also housed the Department of Education as well as the Museum of Natural History and Fine Arts, which became the Royal Ontario Museum. An agricultural laboratory on the site led to the later founding of the Ontario Agricultural College and the University of Guelph. St. James Square went through various other educational uses before it eventually became part of Ryerson University.

He was also a writer, farmer and sportsman. He retired in 1876, and died in 1882 having left an indelible mark on Canada's education system. He is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

Resources

Biographies available online
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5817 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.openlibrary.org/details/egertonryerson1300burwuoft Early standard biography by Nathanael Burwash]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/thestoryofmylife00ryeruoft Ryerson's autobiography edited by George Hodgins] Selected works available online
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3Aegerton%20ryerson%20NOT%20young%20NOT%20williams%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts Works by Egerton Ryerson] available at Internet Archive
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=s0UBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=egerton+ryerson Dr. Ryerson's Reply to the Recent Pamphlet of Mr. Langton & Dr. Wilson on the Univerity Question. Guardian Office, 1861.]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=7wYCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=egerton+ryerson Copies of Correspondence between the Chief Superintendent of Schools for Upper Canada, and other persons, on the question of Separate Schools. Toronto: Lovell & Gibson, 1855.] Correspondence
* Sissons, C.B., ed. "Egerton Ryerson: His Life and Letters." 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1937, 1947.
* Sissons, C.B., ed. "My Dearest Sophie: Letters of Egerton Ryerson to His Daughter." Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1955.Bibliography
* French, Goldwin. "Parsons & Politics." Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1962.
* Thomas, Clara. "Ryerson of Upper Canada." Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1969.
* Westfall, William. "Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth Century Ontario." Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 1989.Online Exhibitions
* [http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/education/ryerson.htm "The Evolution of Education in Ontario: Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson" from Archives of Ontario]

Persondata
NAME=Ryerson, Adolphus Egerton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ryerson, Egerton
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian religious minister, educator, and politician
DATE OF BIRTH=24 March 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH=Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County, Upper Canada
DATE OF DEATH=19 February 1882
PLACE OF DEATH=Toronto, Ontario, Canada