History

Trinity College circa 1852, referred to as Old Trin

Founding

In 1827, Bishop John Strachan, an Anglican deacon who arrived in Canada in 1799, received a Royal Charter from King George IV to build King’s College at York (now Toronto). At the time the British Empire was being reformed along financial and religious lines, and one of the goals of the “new system” was to form churches (by way of land grants) and schools in all of the colonies. However, York was so small at the time that there were no funds available for actually building the college, and the first classes were not held until 1843.

In 1848, the first local elections were held, and the land grants to the churches reverted to “crown” ownership. Strachan withdrew his support for the school when, in 1849, the school was secularized and became the University of Toronto on January 1, 1850.

This action incensed Strachan, who immediately set about creating a private school based on strong Anglican lines. In 1850, the Cameron property on Queen Street, at the western end of Toronto, was purchased for 2,000, and the school was built on this site, on the west side of Garrison Creek (now buried). On 2 August 1851, the legislature of the Province of Canada passed an act incorporating Trinity College. This was supplanted by a Royal Charter for the University of Trinity College, granted by Queen Victoria in 1852. The construction work was completed quickly, and students arrived in January 1852, including some from the Diocesan Theological Institute in Cobourg, Ontario, which was in effect replaced by the newly formed Faculty of Divinity at Trinity College. The first Provost, George Whitaker, was appointed in 1852, holding office until 1880. In 1884 the college admitted its first woman student; in 1888, St. Hilda’s College was created for the women students of Trinity.

Federation with the University of Toronto

Trinity College main building

By withdrawing financial support, the Ontario government pressured its denominational universities to consider co-operation with the public sector in 1868. With Strachan now long dead, efforts began in the 1890s to unite Trinity with the University of Toronto. The matter was hotly contested. However, the college federated with the university in 1904. This was largely due to the efforts of then provost T. C. S. Macklem. The federative model solved the problem of reconciling religiosity and secularism, diversity and economic pragmatism. The College maintained university status and autonomy in instruction and staffing, but restricted its offerings to the sensitive and less costly liberal arts subjects. The University of Toronto, a non-denominational public university, was responsible for instruction in all other areas and for the granting of degrees (except in theology). Most of the degrees granted were turned over to the University of Toronto, with the exception of the degree in Divinity. This allowed Trinity to keep its status as a university.

In the early part of this century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced.

It was recognised at Trinity that the dawning of the new century brought with it a rising cost of living and advancements in the fields of science and medicine. The financial resources of Trinity were only sufficient to maintain those values dearest to Strachan, those of residence life fashioned after the ancient universities of England and education in theology and the humanities. From the union, Trinity was to gain the financial security of the larger institution and access to a top notch