ERNEST WILLIAM STAPLEFORD, B. A., D. D.
 


	Dr. Ernest William Stapleford, president of Regina College, is one of
the foremost educators in the province. He was born at St. Catharines,
Ontario, in 1874, a son of Edmund and Annie (Blake) Stapleford, natives
of Hampshire, England, where they were married. In 1871 they came to
Ontario and the father engaged in contracting until his demise. Both par-
ents died in the province of Ontario. Edmund Stapleford was a zealous
worker in the Methodist church and was a member of the official board
many years. Throughout his life he gave his political allegiance to the
Liberal party and was very active in civic affairs.
	In the acquirement of his education Ernest William Stapleford passed
through the public schools and Collegiate Institute of his birthplace. He
also attended Victoria College and was graduated from the University of
Toronto with the B. A. degree in 1905. In the winter of 1907 he entered
Oxford and in 1917 Victoria College conferred the D. D. degree upon him.
He entered the Methodist ministry as a probationer and served three
country charges in Ontario. In 1908 he went to British Columbia to take
over the Sixth Avenue Methodist church at Vancouver and held that
charge for three years. Dr. Stapleford was then invited to become Con-
ference Educational Secretary for British Columbia, for the Methodist
church. He was engaged in the affiliation of the New Methodist College
with the British Columbia University and was active in raising a five-hun-
dred-thousand~dollar fund when the Great war broke out. The scheme was
then abandoned. In June of the year 1915 he came to Regina as president
of the Regina College and has since held this important position.  The
college is a Methodist institution and has an enrollment of six hundred
students. It gives senior matriculation and first year undergraduate work
and the faculty numbers twenty-six efficient teachers.  The college has
a commercial department, a household science department, a department
of expression, a department of English literature, and offers a full course
in music. The college has developed greatly since Dr. Stapleford took
charge and has now a recognized position in the province.
	In 1907 Dr. Stapleford was married to Miss Maude Bunting, a native
of St. Catharines, and a graduate of the University of Toronto. To Dr.
and Mrs. Stapleford four children have been born, three of whom are
living: Ernest Bunting is attending the Regina College; Elsie Maude is
a stadent in the Collegiate Institute; and Dorathea Ruth is a student in
the public schools; Eleanor Blake died in October, 1920, at the age of two
years. Fraternally Dr. Stapleford is a member of the Ancient Free & Ac-
cepted Masons. He has visited Europe four times, spending over two years
there, touring many countries. He visited England, Scotland, and Ireland,
France and Italy, Turkey and Egypt, Austria, Hungary and Servia[sic]. Dr.
Stapleford is sincerely devoted to his duties as head of the Regina College
and he is ranked among the foremost educators in the province.


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