Article

Henry John Cody

Published Online December 17, 2007

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Henry John Cody, clergyman, educator (b at Embro, Ont 6 Dec 1868; d at Toronto 27 Apr 1951). Educated at U of T, he was ordained a Church of England priest in 1894. He served at St Paul's Church, Toronto, for 40 years, the last 25 as rector.

Cody, Henry John

Henry John Cody, clergyman, educator (b at Embro, Ont 6 Dec 1868; d at Toronto 27 Apr 1951). Educated at U of T, he was ordained a Church of England priest in 1894. He served at St Paul's Church, Toronto, for 40 years, the last 25 as rector. Appointed a canon of St Alban's Cathedral in 1903 and archdeacon of the diocese of York in 1909, he repeatedly turned down offers of a bishopric from a number of Canadian dioceses. During WWI Cody became a vocal supporter of PM BORDEN's government in Ottawa and the HEARST government in Toronto, while championing imperialism and a stronger war effort. He joined the Conservative Hearst administration as minister of education in 1918, resigning as MPP on its defeat in 1919. Cody was determined to use the schools in building a postwar society on the traditional foundations of Protestant Christianity, political conservatism and Anglo-Saxon racial superiority. While in office, he strengthened attendance requirements and promoted the cadet movement and patriotism in the schools.

Cody had a long connection with U of T. He was appointed to the provincial royal commission on the university in 1905 and chaired the 1922 commission on university finances. In 1917 he was appointed a member of the university's board of governors, and from 1923 to 1932 served as chairman. He was president of U of T 1932-44 and its chancellor 1944-47.