Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
General Board of Education for Canada West
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The School Act of 1846 created the General Board of Education for Canada West. Prior to 1846, responsibility for education and schools in what is now Ontario lay with the General Board of Education for Upper Canada, from 1823-1833, the Council of King's College, from 1833-1842, and the Education Office, from 1842-1846 (the Education Office continued to exist after 1846 as part of the General Board of Education for Canada West and later as part of the Department of Public Instruction).
The General Board of Education for Canada West consisted of not more than seven members, with the Chief Superintendent of Education as Chairman. Its membership included the following: Rev. Egerton Ryerson (as Chief Superintendent); Rev. Michael Power, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto; Rev. Henry James Grassett, Rector of Toronto; Hon. Samuel Beatty Harrison, Q.C., Judge of York County; Joseph C. Morrison, Member of the Legislature; Hugh Scobie, editor of the British Colonist; and James Scott Howard, Treasurer of York County.
By the "Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada," 1850 the General Board of Education for Canada West was increased to nine members and renamed the Council of Public Instruction. This Council, in turn, formed a part of the newly created Department of Public Instruction.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
The General Board of Education for Canada West was responsible for establishing, governing and regulating the Common and Grammar Schools, and School Libraries, in Canada West. Activities of the Board included: authorizing books for schools and libraries; denying grants to schools using unapproved textbooks; performing all tasks necessary for the construction and furnishing of a Normal School which was to include a Model School; managing the Normal and Model Schools once in operation; examining and certifying teachers; and advising the Chief Superintendent of Education.
Address
The School Act, Statutes of the Province of Canada 1846, Chap. 20
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Epithet
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Bishop, Olga. Publications of the Government of the Province of Canada, 1841-1867 (1963)
Bishop, Olga. Publications of the Government of Ontario, 1867-1900 (1976)
Maintenance notes
Agency not found in Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12-24
Archivist(s):
G. Brown, S. Paquet, R. Stapleton