Knox College, University of Toronto

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Knox College, 59 St. George Street, Toronto.

Knox College, as viewed from the "Front Campus" lawn.

Stain glass window, as viewed from the stoop of the J. Robert S. Prichard Alumni House.

Knox College is a theological college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada, it is a member school of the Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto.

In 1843, controversy arose in the Church of Scotland over the issue of state control, leading to the establishment of the Free Church of Scotland. In response, a number of Presbyterian ministers and congregations within the Canadian synod of the Church of Scotland switched their affiliation to the new denomination, forming the Free Church of Scotland (Canadian Synod). When Presbyterian theological seminary Queen's College (Kingston, Canada West) decided to remain affiliated with the Church of Scotland, a number of its theological students left in 1844 to form Free Church-affiliated Knox College, named after Scottish Reformation theologian John Knox.

In November 1844, the first class of 14 students began training in the home of Rev. Henry Esson on James Street, on the present site of Toronto Eaton Centre. The following year (1845), a larger house was acquired at 79 Adelaide Street West, and in 1846, Knox's College moved to Front Street West, opposite today's Union Station and on the present site of the Fairmount Royal York (formerly Royal York Hotel). Scottish minister Rev. Dr. Michael Willis, the founding president of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada (1851), became the first Principal of Knox College in 1857; he had come to Toronto in 1846 from St. John's Church in Glasgow, Scotland, where he had followed Thomas Chalmers, and sided with him in the 1843 Disruption. Willis retired in 1870 to London, England.

In 1854, Elmsley Villa, the former residence of the Governor of Canada West, was acquired, serving as Knox College's home until 1875. Knox College received its charter from the government of Ontario in 1858.

In 1861, after the formation of the Canada Presbyterian Church from the merger of the Free Church of Scotland (Canadian Synod) with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (Canadian Synod), Knox College united with the existing United Presbyterian Church theological college (also founded 1844) that had been started in London, Canada West, but had moved into Toronto in the 1850s.

In 1867, Knox College assisted in the formation of The Presbyterian College (Montreal, Quebec), the second theological college affiliated with the Canada Presbyterian Church; Knox College donated a number of books from its library, and a number of Knox alumni have served as faculty, including their present Principal.

By 1875, the same year the Canada Presbyterian Church joined with three other Presbyterian churches in Canada to form the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Knox College dedicated a new building on Spadina Avenue. This location was to be the primary theological seminary for the new Presbyterian Church in Canada.

The present building, completed in 1914, is located between the west side of King's College Circle and St. George Street in the heart of the University of Toronto campus. It was expected to become the main theological seminary of the United Church of Canada, when the Canadian Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists joined together to form the new denomination in 1925. However, the Ontario legislature awarded the Knox College property to the "continuing Presbyterians". In response, the entire faculty and a majority of the theology students of Knox College left to form Union College, a theological seminary of the new denomination. In 1928, Union College united with Methodist theological seminary Victoria College, forming Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

During World War II, while the campus of The Presbyterian College, Montreal, was used for military training, its faculty and students temporarily joined with Knox College in Toronto until 1946. In the 1960's planning stages of the now-aborted Spadina Expressway, parts of Knox College would have been demolised.

In 1991, Ewart College, a historical women's college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada, merged with Knox College. It was initially 1897 known as the Ewart Missionary Training Home, then the Presbyterian Missionary and Deconess Training School, but then renamed after Mrs. Catherine Seaton Ewart, when the present building (now Ernescliff College) was constructed in 1960.

Knox College celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 1994 with the publication of Church, College, and Clergy: a History of Theological Education at Knox College Toronto 1844-1994, by Dr. Brian J. Fraser.

In March 2005, Knox's 160th Anniversary celebration featured a visit and lecture by Allison Elliot, Ph.D, then Moderator of the Church of Scotland.

In October 2005, a joint statement from the Principals of Knox College and Presbyterian College was released, informing that formal discussions towards amalgamating both institutions had been unanimously adopted by their respective Boards of Governors on October 6, 2005.

Principals: