Ryerson Memorial Volume: Prepared on the occasion of the unveiling of the Ryerson statute in the grounds of the Education department on the Queen's birthday, 1889Hodgins, J. George (John George)
History
Ryerson Memorial Volume: Prepared on the occasion of the unveiling of the Ryerson statute in the grounds of the Education department on the Queen's birthday, 1889
Hodgins, J. George (John George)
Education -- Ontario; Ryerson, Egerton, 1803-1882
A change in the Government of New Brunswick in 1854, prevented the
report being considered in the Legislature at that time. In a letter
from Mr. Gray to Dr. Ryerson, dated May 15, 1855, he says:--
"The change of Government prevented our report being adopted and
acted upon, but it met with universal approbation, and from every
portion of the Province the voice of praise has gone up. I give
you credit for it all; and in my remarks in the House, I made my
acknowledgements publicly to you and Mr. Dawson."
In a confidential letter to me, on Separate School matters, from Dr.
Ryerson, dated Quebec, January 30, 1858, he said:--
"Sir Edmund Head (now Governor-General), highly approved of my
Report, etc., on the New Brunswick College question and has sent it
to the authorities of McGill College to see if they cannot adopt
something of the same kind."
Mr. Gray had hoped that the comprehensive bill proposed by the
commission in 1854, and to give effect to their recommendations
relating to King's College, Normal and Model Schools, and a Chief
Superintendent of Education, would be passed in the following year,
1855. In this he was disappointed, for the bill did not pass until
1860. In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from the Hon. Charles Fisher, dated
Fredericton, 14th May, 1860, he said:--
"After years of controversy and difficulty we have passed an Act
to remodel King's College on the plan proposed by your commission,
under the title of the University of New Brunswick. We have not
connected the College or the head of it with the other educational
interests in the Province, but confined him to the University,
and he must be a layman. This provision was inserted to prevent
difficulty."[54]
[54] In 1858 Mr. Henry Fisher (Brother of Hon. Charles Fisher) was
appointed Superintendent of Education for New Brunswick. He visited
Dr. Ryerson in that year to confer with him before undertaking
the duties of his new office. His death occurred in 1860, and in
communicating the sad news to Dr. Ryerson, Hon. Charles Fisher,
referring to his brother, said:--
"He wished particularly (just before his death) to be remembered
to you, and that I should thank you for your kindness to him on
all occasions. He was succeeding in his efforts to improve the
educational interests of the Province, and had been enabled to
secure the support of all parties."
PARTIAL CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF DR. RYERSON'S EDUCATIONAL WORK,
1855, ETC.
I will now give a brief summary, in chronological order, of the
successive steps which Dr. Ryerson took to develop the system of
education which he had founded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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