A note about the front matter This eBook contains new introductory material, as well as the original introductory material printed in 1954. To navigate to the new Foreword, Acknowledgements and Introduction, please use the electronic Table of Contents that appears alongside the eBook. To navigate through the remainder of the book, you may use the electronic Table of Contents or type the page number in the "page #" box at the top of the screen and click "Go." For citation purposes, use the page numbers that appear in the text. HENRY MARSHALL TORY Henry Marshall Tory in 1925. University of Alberta Archives. Henry Marshall Tory A Biography E.A. CORBETT With a New Introduction by DOUG OWRAM Foreword by CHANCELLOR SANDY A. MACTAGGART THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS This edition published by The University of Alberta Press Athabasca Hall Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2E8 Copyright © this edition by The University of Alberta Press 1992. Originally published as Henry Marshall Tory: Beloved Canadian in 1954 by The Ryerson Press, Toronto, Ontario. Reissued by permission of Paul D. Corbett and Joan Corbett Fairfield. ISBN 0-88864-250-4 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Corbett, E.A. (Edward Annand), 1884-1964. Henry Marshall Tory: a biography Originally published: Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954 Included bibliographical references ISBN 0-88864-254-0 1. Tory, H.M. (Henry Marshall), 1864-1947. 2. Educators—Canada—Biography. 3. Education, Higher—Canada—History. I. Title. LA2325.T6C67 1992 378.7T092 C92-091395-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copy- right owner. The portrait of Henry Marshall Tory by F. Varley used on the cover hangs in the Senate Chamber in the Arts Building. It is from the University of Alberta Permanent Collection and is reproduced by permission of University Collections. Printed by Hignell Printing Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Printed on acid-free paper. °° CONTENTS Foreword by Chancellor Sandy A. Mactaggart vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction by Doug Owram xi HENRY MARSHALL TORY: BELOVED CANADIAN Preface v Foreword by Robert C. Wallace, C.M.G. vii I Henry Marshall Tory—Beloved Canadian 1 II Family Background 9 III The Community 14 IV Home and School 21 V Out in the World 28 VI LifeatMcGill 35 VII Lecturer and Professor 42 VIII McGill in British Columbia 51 IX Opposition to the Bill 65 X Back at McGill 85 XI The University of Alberta—Beginnings 93 XII The University of Alberta—A Time for Expansion 122 XIII The Khaki University 138 XIV The National Research Council 157 XV Carleton College 185 XVI The Educator in Public Life 199 XVII The Scientist as Philosopher 208 XVIII The Closing Years 226 This page intentionally left blank FOREWORD DR. HENRY MARSHALL TORY was instrumental in the creation and development of several major educational and research institutions in Canada. In 1905, he wrote a report that resulted in the creation of the University of British Columbia. He was the founding President of Canada's second largest university, the University of Alberta, and he guided it through its first twenty formative years. Most men would then retire, but he had already been appointed as first Chairman of the National Research Council of Canada. He subsequently became its President, and continued on to become the founding (unpaid) President of Carleton University in Ottawa. It is hard to imagine that a single man could accomplish so much in one lifetime. Those who admire and love these remarkable institutions will learn new insights from E.A. Corbett's biography of Henry Marshall Tory. Those who have no connections with them will find this a simple story of an unusually capable man who deserves to be better known to all of us who, with smaller shoes, attempt to follow in his pioneering footsteps. It is a nostalgic biography that is contained within these pages. We no longer believe in heros as we used to, and in this work of the 1950s, the author's admiration of his subject has a different quality than that of a contemporary writer. It is perhaps, less scholarly than we would expect today, but it is filled with the zest of the times, a flavour you may find enjoyable. It is through the efforts and generosity of The Friends of The University of Alberta that this biography of Henry Marshall Tory has been reissued. The Friends' sole object is to support the Uni- vii FOREWARD versity by donations of their time and their finances. The first orga- nization of its kind open to the general public, they were officially established by the Board of Governors in 1943 and have been responsible for many useful projects ever since. Dr. Harvey Hebb, an old friend, who for many years presided over the meetings of the Friends, approached me last year in my position as fourteenth Chancellor of the University, and described how the only biography of our founding President had been out of print for so long that no copies were currently available. He had approached the University of Alberta Press to request that they issue a reprint, but its mandate requires it to publish contemporary scholarly works. Dr. Hebb advised me that the University Press Committee had regretfully concluded that a reissue of Tory's biog- raphy did not fall within these guidelines. But Dr. Hebb did not give up easily. After quantifying the financial risks, he persuaded, first myself, subsequently the pub- lisher and the committee of the University Press, and finally the current executive of the Friends that the original biography of-such an original man deserved our support. Dr. Doug Owram of the- Department of History was then approached to write a new Introduction to set Corbett's biography of Henry Marshall Tory in its historical context. It is an honour and a privilege to acknowledge the contribu- tions of those whose perseverance and generosity have made the reissue of this biography possible. Chancellor Sandy A. Mactaggart March 1992 vni ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS would like to thank Paul D. Corbett and Joan Corbett Fairfield, the copyright holders, for per- mission to reissue their father's biography, Henry Marshall Tory: Beloved Canadian. Mr. Corbett also kindly lent the Press his per- sonal copy of the original book. Dr. Harvey Hebb, an active member of The Friends of The University of Alberta, wanted Tory's biography back in print because of Tory's contribution to higher education in Canada and, especially important to The University of Alberta, as the history of the first President of the University. He originally proposed the project to the Press in 1988 and, resolutely, over the next four years, made his proposal a reality. His dedication to this project is appreciated. The Friends of The University of Alberta and Chancellor Sandy A. Mactaggart were convinced by Dr. Hebb to provide the necessary funding to reissue the book. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts also provided funds towards publication. The Press would like to acknowledge Dr. Doug Owram of the Department of History for preparing a new Introduction to this new edition of Corbett's Henry Marshall Tory and Chancellor Sandy A. Mactaggart for writing a new Foreword. David Norwood, as Chairman of The Friends of The University of Alberta, and Mary Totman of the Senate Office also have been extremely helpful in seeing this project to fruition. Finally, Dr. Owram and the Press would especially like to thank Trude McLaren of the University Archives for all her help. IX Henry Marshall Tory in 1908. University of Alberta Archives. INTRODUCTION Doug Owram E.A.CORBETT'S BIOGRAPHY of Henry Marshall Tory, first published in 1954, is reissued here with the original text. It is a well-written, thoughtful biography of one of Canada's leading educators by a person who knew and admired him. The subtitle of Corbett's origi- nal work, "Beloved Canadian," reflects the author's admiration for Tory and something of the nationalist sense of the post-war period. It is not really very descriptive however. More meaningful perhaps is a sentence used in the original Foreword by Tory's successor as President of the University of Alberta, Robert Wallace. To Wallace, Tory was "essentially a builder." Undoubtedly his role as "builder" is what most stands out about Tory, for he was a unique Canadian university president. Though he was a competent administrator of established bodies, he made his mark by establishing new institu- tions and giving them life. The McGill-affiliated predecessor to the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta, the Alberta Research Council, the National Research Council and Carleton University all look to Henry Marshall Tory as their founder. This is a pattern of accomplishment (and restlessness) unmatched in the history of Canadian education. Tory's remarkable career began in very unremarkable condi- tions. He was born in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, shortly before Confederation. His roots were Scottish but both sides of his family had lived in Nova Scotia for several generations. Tory's family were farmers and he grew up in the comfortable poverty that char- acterized many rural Maritime families in the later nineteenth cen- XI INTRODUCTION tury. Religion and education were both important to his family and his community. From early boyhood Tory was exposed to intellec- tual issues, whether listening to debates about the nature of baptism or reading whatever books came to hand. While Tory was still a youth it seems that he and his family had decided that he would go on to an educated position.