KING'S COLLEGE PURPOSE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE DILEMMA OF KING'S COLLEGE, 1827-1853 Elizabeth Helen Pearce A thesis submitted in confomity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto O Copyright Elizabeth HeIen Pearce 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*! of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington ûttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence aIlowing the exclusive permettant a la National Libraxy of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fïlrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retauis ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts firom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. KING'S COLLEGE PURPOSE AND ACCOUNTABEITY IN NIGHER EDUCATION: THE DILEMMA OF KJNG'S COLLEGE, 1827-1853 Ph.D.- Elizabeth Pearce 1999 Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario hstitute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto The first university in Upper Canada to receive a royal charter was King's College at York. Although petitions for a university in the colony are recorded in the late eighteenth century, it was not until 1827 that a charter was actually acquired and it was only in 1843 that the university opened its doors to students for the first the. In the meantirne, three other universities had opened in the province: Victoria, çponsored by the Methodists, in Cobourg (1 842); Queen's sponsored by the Church of Scotland (1842) and Regiopolis by the Roman Catholics (1 837) both in Kingston. The story of King's College has been told in part and in varying ways by a number of writers and histonans. W. J. Alexander and Stewart Wallace have provided brief, objective, chronological outlines of the major developments in their histories of the University of Toronto in 1906 and 1915 respectively. More recently, historians such as John Moir, Gerald Craig, William Westfall, and Brian McKillop have dealt with the history of King's College in connection with denorninational history, the economic, social and political development of Upper Canada, and the transition fiom constitutional to responsible govcrnment. No one, however, has written a hIl book or dissertation with a prirnary focus on the history of King's College. This paper is presented in an attempt to provide an account of the founding of King's College and the quandary surroundkg its development and ultimate transformation into the University of Toronto. The chronicle is focussed primarily on the political and denominational context and on legislative attempts to resolve the university dilemma. It also examines the roles played by leading political, religious and provincial administrators touching on the university question. The paper traces the history of King's College through the adoption of three university models: John Strachan's pedagogical model, Robert Baldwin's political model and Francis Hincks' compromise model. The discussion encompasses the rationale for the adoption of each and the rejection of the Strachan and Baldwin options. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE THE UNIVERSITY QUESTION THE MODELS AND THE REALXTY .................. 1 The University Question: What Was It? ..................... .. .. ................ 4 TheModels ............................................................... 5 TheRealities ............................................................. 14 TheLiterature ............................................................. 20 CHAPTER TWO EARLY CONSIDEMTIONS OF A UNIVERSITY FOR UPPER CANADA ..........24 TheSimcoeLegacy ........................................................ 24 AnEndowmentGranted .................................................... 31 TheEndowmentanditsLegacy ............................................... 35 CWTERTHREE THE UNIVERSITY CHARTER PROPOSED AND ACQUIRED ..................-35 Sir Peregrine Maitland and the Charter of the University ........................... 16 The General Board of Education and the University: 2 823- 1833 ..................... 50 The Upper Canadian Response to King's College Charter .......................... 58 ResponseoftheLegislature .................................................. 62 Appointment of the King's College Council and Its Activities .......................67 CWTERFOUR THE DECISIONS OF SRJOHN COLBORNE: A NEW PLAN INTRODUCED: AN EXISTING CHARTER AMENDED ......................................... -70 Sir John Colborne and Upper Canada College .................................. -71 The Action of the Legislature on Issues surrounding King's College and Upper Canada College ................................ ,. ............-80 CHAPTER FIVE KING'S COLLEGE COUNCIL AND AMENDING THE CHARTER ................ 94 Response to the Plans of Sir John Colbome .................................... -94 Reaction to Goderich's Request for Surrender of the Charter ........................ 99 Once Again Towards hplernentation of the Vision ............................. -106 Financial Considerations .................................................. -109 CWTERSIX KINGS' COLLEGE COUNCIL AM3 THE OPENING OF THE UNIVERSITY ....... 114 King's College Council and Upper Canada ColIege .............................. 116 King's College Council and the District Grammar Schools ........................ 119 King's College Council and King's College ................................... -122 King's College Council and the Faculty of Medicine .............................126 Statutes of the University and the Office of Vice-President ........................130 King's College Opens Its Doors ......................... .. .................. 132 CWTERSEVEN POLITICAL MACHINATIONS: LEGISLATION ATTEMPTED BY REFORMERS AND TORIES ................. -135 The RoIe of Victoria, Queen's and Regiopolis CoIleges .......................... -137 Legislative Attempts to Solve the University Problem ............................ 141 CHAPTER EIGHT A RESOLUTION TO THE UNIVERSITY PROBLEM FORMED AND QUESTIONED Baldwin Legislation 1849 ..................................................165 Reaction to the Baldwin Mode1 .............................................. 169 The University of London Mode1 Considered .................................. -176 HincksLegislation1853 ................................................... 184 CHAPTER NINE REFLECTIONS ON THE UNIVERSITY QUESTION ........................... 190 Philosophy .............................................................. 190 CUrnculum .............................................................. 195 Govemance and Accountability ............................................. -198 ENDNOTES ............................................................... 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................... 227 Neither the sick nor the destitute have higher claims on the public than the ignorant. The want of knowledge brings al1 other wants in its train, and, if education is to be regarded as a charity, it is a charity of which the blessings are without alloy. It demands no jealous scrutiny of the clahs of its appkcants, nor does it require to be so stinted as not to multiply their nurnber. The obligations, therefore, which rest upon every Christian govemment to promote this great interest are sufficiently obvious and imposing; nor is it enough that the children of settlers know how to read and cast accounts. They ou@ likewise to enjoy the pleasure as well as the advantages of intellectual employrnent, to understand and admire the beneficence of their Creator in the works of his hand, to feel that they are immortal and accountable beings, that Christian virtue is the htdistinction arnong men, and that useful knowledge is the second. John Strachan CHAPTER ONE THE UNIVERSITY QUESTION: THE MODELS AND THE REALITY For over half a centus) until 1853, the "university question" plagued the young colony of Upper Canada. Like al1 questions of education, the issue of establishg a University for Upper Canada raised a broad and divergent range of views and, as happens nequently in such cases, transformed itself into a particulady contentious challenge. On the surface, the debate appeared to be sectarian, a question of equal opporhinity in education. Below the surface, however, it was much more than a sectarian debate as evidenced by the fact that the sectarian solutions which were proposed pleased a minonty of the population while the completely non-sectarian solution adopted in 1849 proved to be unworkable. The history of the university debate and its attendant issues is complex and confusing and it requires a clear fiamework for an analysis of what waç occurring. It is thus appropnate to examine how the stage was set for the university debate and what factors contributed to the adoption and rejection of successive models