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[Bookplate for Henry James Grasett]
[Bookplate for Henry James Grasett]
Title[Bookplate for Henry James Grasett]
Date Created[not after 1882]
Sort Date1882
DescriptionBlack ink on cream paper. Crest features bow loaded with arrow aimed to the left. Feathers stretch outwards on either side of the base of the bow on a crest-wreath. Shield is argent and sable per saltire, divided with a sable cross. Top and bottom quarters are argent charged with a plant with round top and brush head. Feathery leaves appear at either side of the base. Top feature has two sable stylized decorations featuring roundels three over two atop three lines connected at the top that separate outwards at the bottom. Four of the same decorations are featured in the bottom quarter. Left and right quarters are sable charged with five point stars and a stylized design element similar to those in the top and bottom quarters, but thicker and in argent. The shield is surrounded by a stylized border decorated with various curls. Below the shield, the motto is written in capitalized block letters on ribbon with elaborately curled blackening ends.
Extent1 bookplate : intaglio printing ; 6.2 x 9 cm
SubjectPrivate libraries ; Heraldry
Subject - GeographicQuébec (Québec)
Personal NamesHenry James Grasett
GenrePrints
TypeStill Image
Formatimage/jpeg
LanguageLatin
English
NotesHenry James Grasett was born on June 18, 1808 in Gibraltar to Henry Grasett and Ann Bligh. His family moved to Quebec City in 1814. Grasett married Sarah Maria on October 17, 1837 and the couple had eight children. Grasett attended the Royal Grammar School in Quebec City. Between approximately 1825 and 1830 he studied theology under Bishop Charles James Stewart with a scholarship from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He then attended St. John's College at Cambridge, where he obtained a BA between 1830 and 1834. He received his MA from Cambridge in 1842, his BD in 1853, and an honourary DD in 1877. Grasett returned to Quebec in 1834 and was ordained deacon on May 19, 1834. He was then ordained priest on June 8, 1835 by Bishop Stewart. At this time Grasett began his career in Toronto as curate to the rector of St James, John Strachan. In 1839 he became the domestic and examining chaplain to Strachan. He became the rector and chaplain to the garrison in 1847 and dean in 1867. Education was also very important to Grasett. In the 1840s he joined the Home District Board of Education and became its chairman in 1851, a position he would hold until his death in 1882. In 1871 Grasett helped establish the Toronto (later Jarvis) Collegiate Institute. Archibald MacMurchy was the rector of the schools, which became known for academic achievement. In 1846 Grasett was appointed to the Board of Education of Upper Canada (renamed Council of Public instruction in 1850). The board assisted the superintendent of education in organizing and operating the public school system. Grasett sat on the Council until it was replaced by the Department of Education in 1875, after which he was chairman on and off during his tenure. Grasett was quite popular with Anglican laymen in Toronto because he aligned more with low church at a time when most of the clergy in the Toronto diocese were high church. In the 1850s and 1860s he served as a prominent executive member of the non-denominational Upper Canada Tract and Upper Canada Bible societies, which where both shunned by high churchmen. Grasett was responsible for the Protestant atmosphere and furnishings of St James' Cathedral in Toronto. He supported Bishop Benjamin Cronyn of the diocese of Huron in his attack on the high church theology of Provost George Whitaker. Grasett was a member of the corporation of Trinity College. In 1866 he lost an election to become a coadjutor bishop for the diocese. Grasett would become the most outstanding cleric in the low church group. He became the leader of a new, militant campaign against the progress of ritualism. He was the President of the Evangelical Association, established in 1869, to inspire Protestantism. In 1873 the Evangelical Association was superseded by the Church Association of the Diocese of Toronto and Grasett helped write its constitution. He served as the only clergyman amongst 3 Vice-Presidents. The group's efforts were quite unsuccessful in the 1870s. They undertook large propaganda campaigns, including the establishment of Evangelical Churchman in 1876 and a mission fund for new evangelical ministers. Grasett was a member of the fund's committee. The fund was outside the control of the diocesan synod and was protested by Bishop Alexander Neil Bethune. Bethune then singled out Grasett for an investigation in the spring of 1875 into charges of depraving doctrine and discipline of the church. After months of controversy the charges were dropped because no canon law had been broken. In the fall of 1874, Grasett became the chairman of the Church Association committee on clerical education. Under his guidance, the committee established the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School in October 1877. It was a seminary for evangelicals in opposition to Trinity College, which they distrusted. Grasett served as a trustee of the school and taught pastoral theology. After Bishop Betune died in 1879, the Church Association played a key role in the choice of successor. Grasett provided St James' parish hall to the Association for rallies and meeting during the election. Arthur Sweatman was elected on the condition of the disbanding of the Church Association. As a churchman, Grasett rejected arguments leaning towards Catholicism. Because of his orientation towards evangelical Protestantism, he was able to work in Toronto on Provincial council with men of other Protestant denominations to construct the public school system of Ontario based on their shared principles. Grasett died on March 20, 1882 in Toronto, Ontario. He is buried beneath the altar of St James'.
References:
1) Turner, H. E. (1982). Grasett, Henry James. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 2, January 6, 2017. Retrieved from http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/grasett_henry_james_1808_82_11E.html
Access IdentifierBP MUR CAN P G737
Digital IdentifierBP_MUR_CAN_P_G737
Is Part OfRBSC Bookplates
SourceOriginal Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. Thomas Murray Bookplates Collection. Stanley Binder. BP MUR CAN P G737
Date Available2017-01-16
Publisher - DigitalVancouver : University of British Columbia Library
RightsImages provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from Rare Books and Special Collections: http://rbsc.library.ubc.ca
TranscriptMELIORA SEQUI Henry James Grasett
TranslationBetter to follow
DOI1.0343432
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