William Ryerson (31 March 1797 – 15 September 1872) was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister and political figure in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. He was born in

Maugerville, New Brunswick Maugerville (, MAJOR-ville) is a New Brunswick unincorporated community located on the east bank of the Saint John River in Maugerville Parish, Sunbury County, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The settlement is located on provincial Ro ...

in 1797 and grew up in Norfolk County in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. Ryerson served with his father as a volunteer during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He converted to Methodism after the war and left home, settling in Oxford County. In 1823, he was assigned to the Niagara circuit, where he rode alongside Ezra Adams. The pair oversaw increase in church membership of seven, including Henry Wilkinson of St. Catharines.Carroll, volume II, page 453 Ryerson was ordained a deacon in 1825. In 1829, he was involved in establishing a separate Canadian church and helped send his brother Egerton to England to attempt to unite the Canadian church with the British Wesleyan Methodist Church. When this failed, in 1840, William became the first president of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada; he was reelected in 1847, but gave up this position when the Canadian church reunited with the British church later that year. He was active in attempting to establish missions and schools for native people. In 1830, with his brother John, Ryerson was a member of committee to establish the Upper Canada Academy, which later became Victoria College. He served with the militia that put down the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

, but also pleaded against the death penalty for the rebel leaders. In 1861, he was elected in West Brant but he was defeated in 1863 and retired from politics. Ryerson died on his farm near

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

in 1872.

Notes

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryerson, William 1797 births 1872 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Canadian Methodist ministers 19th-century Methodist ministers Methodist ministers Canadian people of the War of 1812 Converts to Methodism from Anglicanism