Adolphus Egerton Ryerson (1803-1882) was a Canadian Methodist clergyman and educator. One of the leading Methodists in Upper Canada, he opposed the pretensions of the Anglican Church.

Egerton Ryerson was born on March 24, 1803, at Charlotteville, Norfolk County, Upper Canada. His father, Joseph, was a United Empire loyalist. Ryerson was educated at the district grammar school and then worked for a time on his father's farm. In 1821 he joined the Methodist Church and taught in the London district grammar school. In 1823 he returned to work on his father's farm once more, but in 1825 he was ordained a Methodist minister and assigned to the Niagara circuit. He was soon transferred to the Yonge Street circuit, which included York (Toronto), and he immediately entered into a strenuous campaign in opposition to the claims of the Church of England in Upper Canada to the income of the clergy reserves.

In 1829 he began...