CONTENTS—Mr. Stuart’s school—Simcoe—State Church and College—Grammar
Schools—Hon. R. Hamilton—Chalmers—Strachan—Comes to Canada—
Educational history—Arrival at Kingston—The pupils—Fees—Removes to
Cornwall—Pupils follow—Strachan, a Canadian—Marries—Interview with
Bishop Strachan—His disappointment—A stranger—What he forsook—300
pupils—Their success—Stay at Cornwall—Appointments at York—A
lecturer—At Kingston—Member of Legislative Council—Politician—
Clergy Reserves—Founds King’s College—The thirty-nine articles—
Monopoly swept away—Voluntaryism—Founds Trinity College—Bishop
Strachan in 1866—What he had accomplished—Those he tutored—Setting
up a high standard—“Reckoner”—Sincerity—Legislation, 1797—Address
to the King—Grammar Schools—Grant, 1798—Board of Education—
Endowment Of King’s College—Its constitution—Changes—Upper Canada
College—Endowment—“A spirit of improvement”—Gourlay—The second
academy—At Ernesttown—The trustees—Bidwell—Charges—Contradicted—
Rival school—Bidwell’s son—Conspicuous character—Bidwell’s death—
Son removes to Toronto—Academy building, a barrack—Literary spirit
of Bath—Never revived—York.
HIGHER EDUCATION—FOUNDATION OF UNIVERSITIES—STRACHAN—BIDWELL.
Up to the time that Upper Canada was set apart from the Province of
Quebec, as a distinct Province, and even until 1799, when Dr. Strachan
came to Kingston, the Rev. Mr. Stuart continued to be the only teacher
who imparted anything like a solid education. But his scholars consisted
mainly of boys not far advanced. No doubt many of them, however,
received from him the elements of a sound, and even classical education.
Governor Simcoe, soon after assuming office, impressed with the
importance of higher education, even for an infant colony, took early
steps to procure from the mother-country a competent person to place at
the head of a College he had determined to establish in connection with
a State Church. His scheme of education to further that object, was to
establish a system of grammar schools, and a University as the head.
The Hon. Robert Hamilton, of Queenston, had at this time a brother
living in Scotland, and it was through him that an offer was made first
to the celebrated Dr. Chalmers. But not desiring to come, although he
had not yet attained to his greatness, he mentioned the name of his
friend Strachan, to whom the offer was then made. Mr. Strachan decided
to come. Thus it was the veteran school-teacher, the divine, the founder
of Universities, who but recently passed away, was led to Canada to
become the occupant of one of the most conspicuous places in the
Province of Upper Canada. So intimately is the name of Dr. Strachan
associated with the history of education, as well as with the
Episcopalian Church, that it becomes necessary to supply here a somewhat
lengthened account of his educational history. He arrived at Kingston
the last day of the year, 1799, having sailed from Greenock the latter
part of August, and having been over four months on the way. But when
Strachan arrived, Simcoe had been recalled, and his scheme was at least,
in abeyance.
Col. Clark says that “a school was established at Kingston, 1800, by the
Hon. R. Cartwright for his sons, having Mr. Strachan for teacher, who
had the privilege of taking ten additional scholars at £10 each per
annum.” Among these ten were the late Chief Justice Robinson, Chief
Justice Macaulay, the Hon. George Markland, Bishop Bethune, the
successor of Dr. Strachan; the Rev. W. Macaulay, Picton; Captain
England, Royal Engineers; Justice McLean, Col. John Clark, and the two
sons of Hamilton, James and Samuel. These, with four sons of Richard
Cartwright, formed Mr. Strachan’s first school for the higher branches
of education.
Mr. Strachan continued to teach in Kingston for three years, when he
removed his school to Cornwall.
All of his pupils at Kingston, except John Clark, of Niagara, followed
him to that place, and continued for years under his instruction.
The high standard of education now set up by Mr. Strachan had a
beneficial effect. He trained here for usefulness and distinction, some
of the first men of the Province. In addition to those mentioned as
distinguished pupils, was Christopher Hagarman. Here Mr. Strachan, it
may be said, became a thorough Canadian, and began to identify himself
with the higher interests of the country. He shortly after married a
lady of Cornwall, Miss Woods, who lived to within a few years of the
Bishop’s death.
Dr. Strachan, in conversation with the writer, referred to the time of
his coming to Canada with no little feeling. He evidently felt the
disappointment arising from the departure of Governor Simcoe very
keenly, which left him quite to his own resources in the new country,
far from his home which he had forsaken, in view of certain promises of
advancement, congenial to his taste. He was, to use his own words, “a
lonely stranger in a foreign land, without resources or a single
acquaintance.” But in coming to speak of his pupils, of which there had
been about 300, and whose course in life he had been permitted to see;
whose success he had been proud to note, he spoke of them with all the
kindness and regard of a parent. He dwelt upon the character and high
position to which so many had attained, especially the late Chief
Justice Robinson. Speaking of himself, he said his “early life was of
too busy a nature to allow him to keep a journal.” And we find it stated
that he had to support a mother and two sisters.
Mr. Strachan continued at Cornwall nine years, teaching, when he removed
to York. The Government recognised his ability, and to increase the
sphere of his usefulness, and to establish a Provincial College, he was
requested to remove to the capital of Upper Canada, and had offered to
him every advantage, pecuniary and otherwise. In these early efforts to
establish higher education, says the Rev. Mr. Smart, whose testimony is
important, too much praise cannot be given to Dr. Strachan.
Although Mr. Strachan had removed to Cornwall, Kingston was occasionally
favored by his presence as a public lecturer, as the following notice
which appeared in the _Gazette_, December, 1810, will show:
“Mr. Strachan’s annual course of popular lectures on Natural Philosophy,
will commence on the second Monday in January, the course consisting of
thirty-six lectures, to be completed in two months. Tickets of
admission, four guineas; students taught at any of the District Schools
of Upper Canada, entitled to tickets for one guinea. This money to be
appropriated to the purchase of scientific books, for the use of those
who attend the lectures.”
In 1818 Dr. Strachan was appointed a member of the Legislative Council,
and also of the Executive Council. In these positions he was a
consistent worker to secure the establishment of a State Church; and for
the twenty-two years he took part in the politics of Upper Canada he
ceased not to work for the cause, and the preservation of the Clergy
Reserves. Dr. Strachan never forgot the original purpose which brought
him to Canada, the foundation of Grammar Schools and a University. In
1827, after using the influence which his political position allowed him
to secure this object, he procured a royal charter for a University
which he named King’s College after his _Alma Mater_. This institution
was intended for the exclusive benefit of those who would subscribe to
the Thirty-nine Articles. For nearly twenty years this University
continued under the control of the Church of England. But the spirit
which obtained in the public mind of Canada was hostile to this
monopoly, and the time came when the University he had founded became
more truly a national one. Although at this time an old man, when it
might have been supposed he would yield to the adverse influence which
had overcome his college, he never thought of resting satisfied, but, in
direct opposition to the principle against voluntaryism, for which his
life had been so far spent, he set about laying the foundation of
another University, and the Trinity College of Toronto is a second
monument to his untiring energy and success; a monument which renders
another unnecessary to commemorate him.
We penned the following remarks in 1866: This widely known worthy still
animates the church he has been mainly instrumental in erecting to a
high and ever influential position in Canada, and whose untiring
energies, guided by a brilliant intellect and a noble purpose, has made
him the parent of higher education in the Province. The result of his
doings—the traces of his vigorous mind, the repletion of his noble life
may be seen, not alone upon the page of Episcopalian Church History; but
in all the departments of Provincial life—in the halls of learning, in
the recorded charges from the Bench, by the mouth of those he educated;
in the speeches of many of Canada’s earliest and foremost statesmen. For
it was he tutored the mind of a McLean, a Hagerman, a Robinson, of the
Sherwoods, Jones, besides a large number of others who have acted a
conspicuous part in the history of the country. While the trees of the
forest yet overshadowed the muddy soil where Toronto now proudly rears
her graceful spires and domes, and while the wild duck found a safe
resting place in the bay, now thickly dotted with crafts of every size,
Dr. Strachan by pen, and by word of mouth, was setting up a high
standard of learning; and by worthy means, was stimulating the minds of
the future men of Canada to attain that high mark. Read the easy flowing
words that appeared in the Kingston _Gazette_, over “Reckoner,” and it
will strike one that if he took the _Spectator_ as a model, he
abundantly succeeded in imitating the immortal Addison. His school at
Cornwall was pre-eminently good, “he had the welfare of those committed
to him at heart, (says the Rev. Mr. Smart,) as well as the youth of the
country generally.”
Five years after the erection of Upper Canada into a distinct Province,
1797, steps were taken by the two Houses of Parliament to establish
schools for the higher branches of learning. A joint address was
presented to His Majesty, Geo. III., asking that he “would be graciously
pleased to direct his Government in this Province, to appropriate a
certain portion of the waste lands of the Crown, as a fund for the
establishment and support of a respectable Grammar School in each
District thereof; and also a College, or University, for the instruction
of youth in the different branches of liberal knowledge.” The Imperial
Government replied, enquiring in what manner, and to what extent, “a
portion of the Crown lands might be appropriated and rendered productive
towards the formation of a fund for the above purposes.” The Executive
Council of Canada recommended “that an appropriation of 500,000 acres,
or ten townships, after deducting the Crown and Clergy sevenths, would
be a sufficient fund for the establishment and maintenance of the royal
foundation of four Grammar Schools and one University.” It was also
suggested, that the Grammar Schools be established at Cornwall,
Kingston, Newark (Niagara), and Sandwich, and the University at York. It
is not known what action was taken on this recommendation.—(Lillie).
But, in 1798, “a grant was made of 549,000 acres of land in different
parts of the Province, to carry out the design of the Grammar Schools
and University.” “Of the above land endowment, 190,573 acres were, up to
the year 1826, assigned to (or disposed of by) a public body, known as
the Board of Education, the proceeds having been applied to the support
of Common and Grammar Schools.” The residue of the grant, amounting to
358,427 acres, appears to have been regarded as properly constituting
that portion of the royal gift which had been intended for the support
of the contemplated University.
Through the influence and exertion of Dr. Strachan, the University of
King’s College was established by Royal Charter of Incorporation, 15th
March, 1827, with an endowment of “225,000 acres of crown land, and
£1,000 for sixteen years.” The Council or Governors were to consist of
the Chancellor, President, and seven Professors or Graduates of the
institution. All were to be members of the Church of England. This
exclusive feature of the College continued to exist until 1843, when the
charter was modified whereby parties were eligible to hold office by a
declaration of their “belief in the authenticity and Divine
incorporation of the Old and New Testaments, and in the doctrine of the
Trinity.” Various changes were made by Legislative enactment until the
present institution became established, in 1853, when the faculties of
Law and Medicine were abolished, the name changed from King’s College to
University College, and the University and College made two distinct
institutions.
The Royal Grammar School was merged into Upper Canada College in 1829,
and this institution was opened the following year. “In the years 1832,
1834, and 1835, it received endowments of land, amounting, in all, to
63,268 acres, irrespective of two valuable blocks in York—on one of
which the present College buildings stand.” “The College further
received an allowance from Government of £200 sterling, in 1830; £500 in
1831; and £1,000 sterling per annum since.”
ACADEMY AT ERNESTTOWN—BIDWELL.
While to Dr. Strachan belongs the honor of establishing the first school
whereat a liberal education might be obtained the efforts and labors of
others must not be forgotten. Shortly after the commencement of the
present century, there arose, perhaps as a result of the teaching of
Strachan, a greater desire for advanced learning. Says a writer in 1811,
“A spirit of improvement is evidently spreading, the value of education,
as well as the want of it, is felt. Gentlemen of competent means appear
to be sensible of the importance of giving their children academical
learning, and ambitious to do it without sending them abroad for the
purpose. Among other indications of progress in literary ambition, I
cannot forbear referring to the academy lately erected in Ernesttown, by
the subscription of public-spirited inhabitants of that, and the
neighbouring townships, who appear to be convinced that the cultivation
of liberal arts and sciences is naturally connected with an improvement
of manners and morals, and a general melioration of the state of
society.”
The academy above referred to was the second school of importance
established in Upper Canada. It was also situated upon the shores of the
Bay of Quinté. The following is from the _Kingston Gazette_:
“ERNESTTOWN ACADEMY.—The subscribers hereby inform the friends of
learning that an Academical School, under the superintendence of an
experienced preceptor, is opened in Ernesttown, near the church, for the
instruction of youth in English reading, speaking, grammar and
composition, the learned languages, penmanship, arithmetic, geography,
and other branches of Liberal Education. Scholars attending from a
distance may be boarded in good families on reasonable terms, and for
fifteen shillings a year can have the use of a valuable library. School
Trustees: Robert McDowel, Benjamin Fairfield, William Fairfield, Solomon
Johns, William Wilcox, Samuel Neilson, George Baker.—Ernesttown, 11th
March, 1811.”
The person selected for teacher was Mr. Barnabas Bidwell, who had a few
years previously come to Canada from the State of Massachusetts, where
he had been, according to a writer in the _Kingston Gazette_,
Attorney-General of that State. The same writer made charges of a
serious nature against Mr. Bidwell, as to the cause of his leaving his
country; but one of the above committee vindicated Mr. Bidwell’s
character; by asserting that although Mr. B. had been “unfortunate in
business, and became embarrassed, he was honest, and had left property
to pay his debts when he left—that he had been a tutor at the first
college in America—that he avoided politics and devoted himself to
literary pursuits.” It was about the commencement of the present
century, when Mr Bidwell came to Bath to live.
Probably the academy at Bath was regarded somewhat as a rival to the
school existing at Cornwall.
Barnabas Bidwell remained at Bath about eight years when he removed to
Kingston, with his son, Marshal Bidwell, who became a lawyer, and a very
conspicuous character in Canada. B. Bidwell died at Kingston, July 26,
1833, aged 70. His son removed to York in 1830, where he practised his
profession until the eventful year of 1837.
The academy, at the commencement of the war of 1812, was in a prosperous
state, but very soon all was changed,—the school was broken up, and the
building converted into a barrack. The close of the war unfortunately
saw no return of the old state of things, the teacher was gone, and the
students scattered, “having resorted to other places of education, many
of them out of the province. The building is now, (1822), occupied as a
house of public worship, and a common school. It is to be hoped,
however, that the taste for literary improvement may be revived, and
this seminary be re-established.” But these hopes were never realized.
The literary glory of Bath had departed. The capital of York was now to
become a centre to which would gravitate the more learned, and where
would be established the seats of learning. The limited, though earnest
rivalry which had existed between Kingston and Bath, was to be on a more
important scale, between the ancient capital, Kingston, and the more
promising one of York.