John Strachan


1778 - 1867

First Bishop of Toronto. Born in Aberdeen, the son of an overseer in a granite quarry, who was killed in an accident when Strachan was fourteen. He was educated at the University in the city. Soon after graduation, he emigrated for Canada where he was ordained into the Episcopal Church in 1806. Strachan did much to relieve the suffering of the citizenry of York when the Americans captured the city in 1812. He served as first President of the Canadian Board of Education and was responsible for the foundation of a number of schools and was a supporter of McGill University, endowed by his brother-in-law James McGill (1744 - 1813). He was appointed the first Bishop of Toronto in 1839.


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