James Patterson Sheraton

In 1873 a number of Anglican laypeople of evangelical conviction in Toronto, resenting their exclusion from diocesan decisions, had organized an advocacy group called the Church Association of the Diocese of Toronto. By 1874 the Church Association was proposing its own theological school. Sheraton was suggested as an ideal candidate for principal. The bishop of Toronto, Alexander Neil Bethune*, announced that he would not ordain its graduates and he refused to license Sheraton, who had no authorized ministry in the diocese. But Sheraton enjoyed an immense advantage: the school was supported by some of the most influential Anglicans in Toronto. Sheraton assumed the major responsibility for the administration and development of the school, which was incorporated in 1879. By 1882 Sheraton had helped raise an endowment of $89,000, and in October of that year he opened the school’s first building, on College Street west of Queen’s Park. Designed by William George Storm*, it was called Wycliffe College, apparently on Sheraton’s advice, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the first Wycliffite translation of Scripture. He was active in the movement for university federation, and in 1889 Wycliffe became a federated college of the University of Toronto.