Nathanael Burwash

Nathanael Burwash FRSC (1839–1918) was a Canadian Methodist minister and university administrator.

The Reverend Nathanael Burwash FRSC
Burwash, from The New Student's Reference Work
Born	25 July 1839 St. Andrews East, Lower Canada
Died	30 March 1918 (aged 78) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Resting place	Baltimore, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Spouse(s)	Margaret Proctor ​ (m. 1868)​
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity (Methodist)
Church	Methodist Church
Ordained	1864
Academic background
Alma mater	Victoria College Yale University Garrett Biblical Institute
Academic work
Discipline	Theology

Early life and education

Nathanael Burwash was born in St. Andrews East, Lower Canada, on 25 July 1839, the eldest son of the devout Methodists Adam Burwash and Anne Taylor.[1] He was raised on a farm in Baltimore, Canada (a hamlet near Cobourg), to which his family moved in 1844.[2] In 1959 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria College which was then located in Cobourg, Ontario, and was ordained by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1864.[3] He later studied at Yale College and the Garrett Biblical Institute.[4]

He married Margaret Proctor on 25 December 1868 in Sylvan, Ontario.[3] They had four daughters and eight sons together.[3]

Career

Burwash was a managing editor of The Canadian Methodist Review

In 1866, he was appointed professor of natural history and geology at Victoria College. In 1873 he became dean of theology there, and in 1887, he became chancellor and president of Victoria University, the new name of Victoria College, while retaining the deanship until 1900.[5] He participated in the discussions which led to Victoria College's relocation from Cobourg to Toronto and its federation with the University of Toronto.[1] He retired the university chancellorship and presidency in 1913, but continued to teach theology until his death.[6]

He was elected president of the Methodist Church's Bay of Quinte conference in 1989[3] and was a participant at each general conference of the Methodist Church from 1874 to 1894. He wrote several books, including a biography of Egerton Ryerson.[7]

Burwash Hall was named in his honour.[8] Burwash died on 30 March 1918 in Toronto, Ontario, and was buried in Baltimore.[3]

Books

• Burwash, N. Wesley's doctrinal standards, published by W. Briggs and C.W. Coates circa 1881.
• Burwash, N. The history of Victoria College Toronto : Victoria College Press, 1927. (published after Burwash's death) xviii, 571 p., [7] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.
• Burwash, N. and Reynar, A. H. (Alfred Henry). Egerton Ryerson Parkman ed. Toronto : Morang, 1906. 303 p. : port. ; 23 cm.

References

Citations

1. Van Die 1989, p. 3; Van Die 1998.
2. Semple 2013; Van Die 1998, pp. 3–4.
3. Van Die 1998.
4. Van Die 1989, pp. 4, 65; Van Die 1998.
5. Van Die 1989, p. 89; Van Die 1998.
6. Semple 2013.
7. Burwash 1910.
8. Lamb 1990, p. 132.

Works cited

• Burwash, Nathanael (1910) [1903]. Egerton Ryerson. The Makers of Canada. 13. Toronto: Morang & Co. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
• Lamb, J. William (1990). Bridging the Years: A History of Bridge Street United/Methodist Church, Belleville, 1815–1990. Winfield, British Columbia: Wood Lake Books. ISBN 978-0-929032-25-2.
• Semple, Neil (2013) [2007]. "Nathanael Burwash". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
• Van Die, Marguerite (1989). An Evangelical Mind: Nathanael Burwash and the Methodist Tradition in Canada, 1839–1918. McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion. 3. Kingston, Ontario: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-0695-4. ISSN 1181-7445.
•  ———  (1998). "Burwash, Nathanael". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. 14. Toronto: University of Toronto and Université Laval. Retrieved 25 January 2018.