Series 1 - Christian Guardian, The

The Christian Guardian was a Wesleyan Methodist journal founded in 1829 in Toronto, Ontario. The first volume was published on November 21, 1829. The journal was one of the first religious publications in Canada. Egerton Ryerson was the publications founding editor.
At the outset, the publication was published weekly. It quickly gained an audience outside of the Methodist Church. Over time, the publication expanded in length and featured more illustrations as it grew.

From 1875 to 1878, The Christian Guardian merged with The New Connection publication, The Evangelical Witness (est. 1855). In 1884, with the union of churches, The Christian Guardian absorbed the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada's Canadian Christian Advocate (est. 1857) the Primitive Methodist Church of Canada's Christian Journal (est. 1857), and the Bible Christians Church's The Observer (est. 1866).

The Christian Guardian was published under the following bodies:
Published for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada - 1829-1830
Published under the direction of the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada - 1830-1833
Published under the direction of the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in British North America - 1833-1834
Published under the direction of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada - 1834-1874
Published under the direction of the Methodist Church in Canada - 1874-1925

Editors for the publication include:
E. Ryerson and F. Metcalf (1829-1830)
E. Ryerson and W. Smith (1830-1831)
Egerton Ryerson (1831-1832)
James Richardson (1832-1833)
Egerton Ryerson (1833-1835)
Ephraim Evans (1835-1838)
Egerton Ryerson (1838-1840)
Jonathan Scott (1840-1844)
George Frederick Playter (1844-1846)
George Rivers Sanderson (1846-1851)
James Spencer (1851-1860)
Wellington Jeffers (1860-1869)
Edward Hartley Dewart (1869-1895)
A.C. Courtice (1895-1902)
G. J. Boyd (1903-1905)
William Black Creighton (1906-1925)

Please note that many issues do not have the editors printed on the issue. There may be some discrepancy in the editors for a given volume.
From 1829-1834 the publication was published in York, Upper Canada. In 1834 York became the City of Toronto. The publication was printed in various buildings on King Street East, Queen Street East and Richmond Street West.

From 1879-1919, William Briggs became the book steward and the publisher, under the Methodist Book and Publishing House. Samuel W. Fallis took over in 1919 as book steward.
In 1925, 70% of the Presbyterians, the Congregationalist and the Methodists merged to formed The United Church of Canada. The publications of each of the denominations also merged to form The New Outlook which became the United Church Observer in 1939, and Broadview in 2019.

The Methodist Book and Publishing House was founded in 1829 in Toronto, Ontario. By the 1890s the Methodist Book and Publishing House was responsible for the Christian Guardian, Sunday-school papers, textbooks, and undertaking jobbing printing. In 1919, Methodist Book and Publishing House became Ryerson Press.

Ryerson Press, a Canadian book publishing company named after Egerton Ryerson, was founded in 1919. It was previously known as The Methodist Book Room, run by the Methodist Church of Canada. After the merger of the Methodist, Congregation and the Presbyterian Churches in 1925, Ryerson Press was operated by the United Church Publishing House. The publishing company was sold in 1970 to McGraw-Hill.