Strachan, John

Strachan, John strôn [key], 1778–1867, Canadian Anglican prelate, b. Scotland. As a member of the executive council of Upper Canada (1815–36) and of the legislative council (1820–41), he was an influential leader on the Conservative side. In 1839 he became the first Anglican bishop of Toronto. Strachan worked earnestly for education but always firmly advocated control by the Anglican church of all institutions of learning. In the long struggle to settle the matter of the Clergy Reserves, he unequivocally maintained that the Anglican church had the sole claim to their use.

See biography by S. Boorman (1969); studies by J. L. Henderson (1969) and D. Flint (1971).

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