Victoria College was originally founded as the Upper Canada Academy by the Wesleyan Methodist Church. In 1831, a church committee decided to locate the academy on four acres (1.6 hectares) of land in Cobourg, Ontario, east of Toronto, because of its central location in a large town and access by land and water.
In 1836, Egerton Ryerson received a royal charter for the institution from King William IV in England, while the Upper Canadian government was hesitant to provide a charter to a Methodist institution.
The school officially opened to male and female students on October 12, 1836, with Ryerson as the first president and Matthew Ritchey as principal. Although the school taught a variety of liberal arts subjects, it also functioned as an unofficial Methodist seminary. In 1841, it was incorporated as Victoria College, named for Queen Victoria, and finally received a charter from the Upper Canadian Legislature.
John Harper (architect) designed Victoria University Medical College (1871-2), Gerrard Street East at Sackville Street, Toronto which was demolished.
Victoria College Freshmen 1883
Victoria University was formed in 1884 when Victoria College and Albert University federated with each other. In 1890, Victoria University federated with the University of Toronto. In 1892, Victoria University moved from Cobourg to its current campus on Queen’s Park Crescent, south of Bloor Street (at Charles Street West), in Toronto.
Victoria College Graduating Class 1886
A plaque was erected at 100 University Avenue at the intersection with College Street in Cobourg, Ontario.
Victoria College
The cornerstone of this building was laid June 7, 1832, and teaching began in 1836. First operated under a royal charter by the Wesleyan Methodists as Upper Canada Academy, in 1841 it obtained a provincial charter under the name of Victoria College, giving it power to grant degrees. Victoria’s first president was the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, newspaper editor and founder of Ontario’s present educational system. In 1890 the college federated with the University of Toronto and, in 1892, left Cobourg.
Victoria College and Faraday Hall 1878
…from Wikipedia
The cornerstone of this building was laid June 7, 1832, and teaching began in 1836. First operated under a royal charter by the Wesleyan Methodists as Upper Canada Academy, in 1841 it obtained a provincial charter under the name of Victoria College, giving it power to grant degrees. Victoria’s first president was the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, newspaper editor and founder of Ontario’s present educational system. In 1890 the college federated with the University of Toronto and, in 1892, left Cobourg.…from Ontario’s Historical Plaques
Victoria College was founded by the Wesleyan Conference; the institution was chartered in 1835, as an Academy, and by Act of Parliament, in 1812, was constituted a College, with power to confer degrees in the several arts and sciences – (the only degree yet conferred has been one in literature): it is supported partly by a legislative grant of £500 per annum, and partly by tuition fees. The building is handsome, and well situated, and cost nearly £10,000; it contains Library, Reading Room, Chapel, Laboratory, Lecture Rooms, &c. &c. Although the institution was founded by the Methodists, there is nothing sectarian in its character…from the Newcastle District
Notices:
Methodists: Report of Bishop Strachan’s address to the three hundred students present at the first matriculation of students at King’s College. He complained that the college should have been a Church of England institution as Victoria College was under Methodist control and that Queen’s College was under Presbyterian control. Chronicle and Gazette June 21, 1843 p. 3, col. 2
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