Subseries 1 - Records of the Burwash Memorial Lectureship Committee

In 1913, a joint committee of The Ministry and Membership of the Methodist Church of Canada and lay graduates of Victoria University requested a fund be set up for a course of lectures to perpetuate the memory of the Rev. Nathanael Burwash (who had just retired) and to secure 'for future years an agency by which the truths, studies and causes in which he [Burwash] has been interested...'. In 1913, $5000 was transferred into the fund to found the lecture series. Initially, the Executive Committee was authorized to make provisions for the management of the Fund. In 1919, it was recommended that members of the faculty join the members of the Executive Committee in making arrangements for filling the lectureship. The inaugural Lecture was held in 1917. In 1923, The Burwash Memorial Lectureship Committee was established to choose the subject and lecturer for lectures. The President acted as the Chairman. The lectures were held irregularly - 1917, 1923, 1928, 1931. In 1930, the Senate requested to share responsibility for the lectureship. At the Board meeting of February 5, 1931, the terms of reference for the Committee were given and it was noted that the Committee would consist of Board members as well as a number of appointed members from the Senate. In 1935, a sub-committee of the Centenary Committee made arrangements for the Burwash Memorial Lectures.