Editing Victoria University, Toronto (section)

== History ==
[[File:Upper Canada Academy, 1863.jpg|left|thumb|Upper Canada Academy in Cobourg, 1863 (Victoria University Archives).]]
Victoria College was founded as the Upper Canada Academy by the [[Methodist Church (Canada)|Wesleyan Methodist Church]]. In 1831, a church committee decided to locate the academy on four acres (1.6 hectares) of land in [[Cobourg, Ontario]], east of [[Toronto]], because of its central location in a large town and access by land and water. In 1836, [[Egerton Ryerson]] received a [[royal charter]] for the institution from [[King William IV]] in England, while the [[Upper Canada|Upper Canadian]] government was hesitant to provide a charter to a Methodist institution. This was the first charter ever granted by the British Government to a [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] body for an educational institution.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Burwash|first=Nathaneal|title=History of Victoria College|publisher=Victoria College Press|year=1927|location=Toronto|pages=41}}</ref> The school officially opened to male and female students on October 12, 1836, with [[Matthew Richey]] as principal.<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/tlctd10.txt The Project Gutenberg EBook #6466 of 'The Intellectual Development of the Canadian People, A historical review'] by John George Bourinot, House of Commons, Ottawa, February 17th, 1881</ref>  Although the school taught a variety of liberal arts subjects, it also functioned as an unofficial [[Methodist]] seminary. In 1841, it was incorporated as Victoria College, named in honour of [[Queen Victoria]], and finally received a charter from the Upper Canadian Legislature.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates  |last=Pound |first=Richard W. |publisher=Fitzhenry and Whiteside |year=2005}}</ref>

Victoria University formed in 1884 with the merger of Victoria College and [[Albert College (Belleville, Ontario)|Albert College]] in Belleville. In 1890, due to financial and geographic difficulties, Victoria University federated with the University of Toronto. In 1892, Victoria University moved from Cobourg to its current campus on Queen's Park Crescent, south of [[Bloor Street]] (at Charles Street West), in Toronto.

A plaque was erected at 100 University Avenue at the intersection with College Street in [[Cobourg, Ontario]].
<blockquote>Victoria College

The cornerstone of this building was laid June 7, 1832, and teaching began in 1836. First operated under a royal charter by the Wesleyan Methodists as Upper Canada Academy, in 1841 it obtained a provincial charter under the name of Victoria College, giving it power to grant degrees. Victoria's first president was the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, newspaper editor and founder of Ontario's present educational system. In 1890 the college federated with the [[University of Toronto]] and, in 1892, left Cobourg.</blockquote>
[[Image:VicU1900.jpg|left|thumb|Old Vic in Toronto, 1900]]
[[James Loudon]], a former president of the federated universities, had prohibited dancing at the University of Toronto until 1896.  However, dancing at Victoria was not officially permissible until thirty years later, in 1926.
[[File:Emmanuel College, Victoria University - University of Toronto - Toronto, Canada - DSC00527.jpg|thumb|Emmanuel College, Victoria University]]
[[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] gifted to Victoria College a silver cup used by [[Queen Victoria]] when she was a child and the [[Royal Standard of the United Kingdom|Royal Standard]] that had flown at [[Osborne House]] and was draped on the coffin of the Queen when she died there in 1901.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Rynor| first=F. Michah| title=Royal Gems| journal=UofT Magazine| issue=Winter 2001| publisher=University of Toronto| location=Toronto| year=2001| url=http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/looking-back/founding-of-victoria-college-royal-gems/| access-date=3 October 2009}}</ref>

Two bronze plaques on either side of the South door of Victoria College were erected as memorials dedicated to the students of Victoria College who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The WWI list of honour was erected by the Alumni and Alumnae Associations on October 13, 1923, while the WWII list of honour was erected by the Board of Regents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/nic-inm/sm-rm/mdsr-rdr-eng.asp?PID=5760 |title=DHH - Memorials Details Search Results |website=www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908170404/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/nic-inm/sm-rm/mdsr-rdr-eng.asp?PID=5760 |archive-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1928, the independent Union College federated with the theology department of Victoria College, and became [[Emmanuel College, Toronto|Emmanuel College]].

''On the Old Ontario Strand'' for piano by Joyce Belyea was published for the Victoria College Music Club between 1946 and 1948 by the J.H. Peel Music Pub. Co. in Toronto.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amicus.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ourl/c.php?id=16221717&l=eng&s=amicus|title=Link to this page|first=Library and Archives|last=Canada|date=27 November 2008|website=Amicus.collectionscanada.gc.ca|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>