RYERSON, Adolphus Egerton, Canadian educator, born in Charlotteville, Upper Canada, 24 March, 1803; died in Toronto, 19 February, 1882. His father, Joseph (1760-1854), was an American loyalist from New Jersey. The son received a classical education, and in 1829 founded the "Christian Guard-inn," of which he was appointed associate editor. He was chosen the first president of Victoria college in 1841, and in 1844 was appointed superintendent of education for Upper Canada. In 1846 he induced the legislature to pass a school act that he had drafted, and he afterward published an elaborate report on methods of education (Montreal, 1847). He drafted the bill, in 1850, under which the public schools of Ontario are still maintained. In 1855 he founded meteorological stations in connection with county grammar-schools, and in 1860 drafted a bill for the further development of the system of public instruction. In 1876 he resigned. He received the degree of D. D. from Wesleyan university, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1842, and that of LL.D. from Victoria college in 1866. Dr. Ryerson published "Letters in Defence of Our School System" (Toronto, 1859) and "The Loyalists of America and their Times--1620-1816" (1880). "The Story of My Life," an autobiography, which he left unfinished at his death, was completed and published by John George Hodgins (1883).R YERSON, John, Canadian clergyman, born in Norfolk, Ont., 12 June, 1800; died in Simcoe, Ont., 5 October, 1878. He received a fair education, became a Wesleyan preacher at the age of eighteen, and aided in founding many institutions of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1854 the Canadian conference, with a view to assuming the direction and maintenance of the missions of the London Wesleyan committee in the Northwest territory, sent Mr. Ryerson to explore the field. He travelled nearly 3.000 miles in the yacht of the Hudson bay company and in bark canoes, and, before returning, went to England and arranged for the transfer of the missions. His journey is described in "Hudson's Bay, or a Missionary Tour in the Territory of the Hon. Hudson's Bay Xompany" (Toronto, 1855).