John Strachan

Title: Bust of John Strachan

Artist: Adrienne Alison

Material: Bronze

Location: Trinity College

Latitude: 43.665315

Longitude: -79.395813

VISUAL ANALYSIS:

This piece of artwork is a bust of a founder of the University of Toronto - John Strachan. The bronze bust is 3 feet tall, a larger-than-life representation. This statue of Strachan shows him wearing a bishop’s shirt. The bust shows Strachan with a straight posture with his head slightly facing his right. The commanding posture, with the bust ending at just below his shoulders and chest, shows a dynamic triangle shape. His facial features show an aged man as the sculpture has depicted recognizable wrinkles. The sculptor Adrienne Alison paid close attention to the details of Strachan’s face and gave him a knowledgeable expression. His eyes are focused to the right, and the right corner of his lips are curved, almost unnoticeably, upward, showing what could be seen as a smirk. The bishop’s attire that Strachan is wearing is true to the time and his status. The collar of his shirt is seen to be raised to the top of his neck, and the body of the shirt is designed with ridges showing the uneven folds of a naturally draped outfit. This bust accurately portrays John Strachan as a bishop who nobly founded Trinity College

HISTORICAL INFORMATION:

John Strachan was born in 1778 in Aberdeen, Scotland and was the youngest of six children. He attended the University of Aberdeen at the age of 16 and graduated in 1797. He was offered a position to teach at an academy in Upper Canada, thus he emigrated in 1799 only to discover that the academy was scraped. Despite begin jobless, Strachan pursued other educational avenues and established himself as a tutor and educator in Kingston. At the same time, he studied to be ordained. In 1803, Strachan was officially ordained as a priest by the first bishop of Quebec, and served in Cornwall. He established a grammar school in Cornwall and married his wife, Ann McGill in 1807. Before the War of 1812, Strachan settled in York and was appointed to rectory at St. James church.

When the War of 1812 began, Strachan became a big supporter of the British and would make speeches praising the their successes. He also supported the militia by recruiting young women of York to knit flags and organize fundraisers to provide soldiers on the Niagara front with shoes and clothing. Moreover, Strachan founded the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada which raised money to support families of soldiers and care for the wounded. A defining moment of Strachan's character is during the surrendering of York in the Battle of York of 1813. Strachan took charge and negotiated with the American commander on the terms of their surrender despite having no diplomatic authority. Strachan then accused the Americans of violating their terms by looting, pillaging, and causing destruction in the city. He later was able to win back their stolen materials.

After the war, Strachan returned to being a religious leader and continued developing provincial education. Some of his achievements include being a member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada and the Legislative Council. He was the first bishop of Toronto, and founded King's College which later became the University of Toronto. John Strachan was an influential leader politically, religiously, and educationally. His passion for people, perseverance amid failure and injustice, and many achievements that contributed to the foundation of Toronto set him as a historical hero.

Significance

John Strachan was the first Bishop of Toronto but was also a founder of the University of Toronto and Trinity College. Strachan gifted the Trinity College Library at the University of Toronto with 2 gifts. The first gift comprised of 600 books in 1853, shortly after the founding of Trinity College. The second gift comprised of a bequest of his 3,000-volume library during his death in 1867. Strachan’s lifelong dedication to education is reflected by the vast range of subjects that his Trinity College book collection covers. They include subjects such as science, mathematics, classics, English literature, history, economic, politics, philosophy, theology, controversial literature, and etc. For a century, these books have remained as a physical collection inside the Trinity College Library, but the wear and tear of much scholarly use and challenging environmental conditions are evident in the current physical states of the volumes. Thus, many books from his original two gifts have not survived.

Trinity College students wanted to create sculpture of John Strachan to commemorate their founder. Artist Adrienne Alison had to work with a large student council to come up with a design that appealed to all. Alison used the Trinity archives for research and had the bishop’s shirt made by a costume designer since there is nothing like it today. This bronze bust of Bishop Strachan sculpture was finished in the summer of 2004 and is currently located in the Trinity College Quad at the University of Toronto

An Urban myth

One of the most haunted destinations at the University of Toronto is Trinity College. Many ghost stories since the founding of the University of Toronto have been floating around and one of them includes the founder of Trinity College, John Strachan who died on the day after Halloween, November 1, 1867. Many have claimed to see the ghost of Strachan in his bishop robes, returning to the college he founded around the anniversary of his death. Since Strachan had a reputation for being overbearing and proud of his achievements when he was still alive, many still suspect that every year around the date of his death, he returns to Trinity College in order to check on its progress and improvement. "He can be considered as a man who works even from beyond his grave."