George Sterling Ansel Ryerson

Who was George Sterling Ansel Ryerson?

George Sterling Ansel Ryerson was an Ontario physician, businessman and political figure. He represented Toronto in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1893 to 1898 as a Conservative and then Conservative-Protestant Protective Association member.

He was born in Toronto in 1855, the son of George Ryerson and Isabella Dorcas Sterling, and studied in Galt and then at the Trinity Medical School in Toronto, receiving his MD in 1876. He continued his studied in Europe. In 1880, he set up practice in Toronto and also lectured on eye, ear and throat diseases at Trinity Medical School. Ryerson was also surgeon at the Andrew Mercer Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was surgeon with the Royal Grenadiers, serving during the Northwest Rebellion. Ryerson helped found the Association of Medical Officers of the Canadian Militia and served as president from 1908 to 1909. He was later named honorary colonel for the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Ryerson helped establish the St John Ambulance Association in Ontario and the Canadian Red Cross Society.

He was elected to the legislative assembly in an 1893 by-election and reelected in 1894. He did not run in 1898 due to poor health.