Article

Alexander Forrester

Published Online December 17, 2007

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Alexander Forrester, clergyman, educator (b in Scot 1804; d at New York C, NY 20 Apr 1869 and buried at Truro, NS). Ordained in the Church of Scotland, Forrester left it in 1843 to help establish the Free Church.

Forrester, Alexander

Alexander Forrester, clergyman, educator (b in Scot 1804; d at New York C, NY 20 Apr 1869 and buried at Truro, NS). Ordained in the Church of Scotland, Forrester left it in 1843 to help establish the Free Church. In 1848 he immigrated to NS, serving the Free Church in Halifax before being named superintendent of education, and first principal of the Normal School in 1855. Like his predecessor John William DAWSON, he was a strong advocate of compulsory assessment, teacher training and a centralized system of education. Author of The Object, Benefits and History of Normal Schools (1855) and The Teacher's Textbook (1867), from 1858 to 1860 he edited and published the Journal of Education. Many of his proposals were incorporated in the free-school legislation passed by Charles TUPPER's administration in 1864-65. Forrester, an ardent Liberal, was replaced as superintendent, but continued as principal of the Normal School until his death.