Department of Public Instruction for Upper Canada

Corporate body

Department of Public Instruction for Upper Canada

n.d.

A large block was purchased by the Province in 1850 for a normal school which is now part of Ryerson Polytechnic University. Here Egerton Ryerson superintended the work of the first Department of Public Instruction in Upper Canada. Here generations of teachers prepared themselves for careers in education.
In October of 1844, Sir Charles Metcalfe, the head of administrative affairs in the province, appointed Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson to the position of Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, the highest position in the Department of Public Instruction for Upper Canada. For the next thirty years he would have a dramatic impact on the development of education in Ontario. Shortly after Ryerson accepted the position of Chief Superintendent he appointed Dr. John George Hodgins as the Chief Clerk for the Department of Public Instruction. The latter worked closely with Ryerson to build the foundations of the education system, advising him on major issues and assisting with the wording of legislation.
In 1855, Hodgins was appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Public Instruction, and later (in 1890) was appointed the Librarian and Historiographer to the Department. During his sixty plus years with the Department, Hodgins wrote voluminously on the topic of Ontario's educational history and school architecture.

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