Sir George Williams University College, named after George Williams, founder of the original YMCA in London, upon which the Montreal YMCA was based. In 1934, Sir George Williams College offered the first undergraduate credit course in adult education in Canada. The Sir George Williams College became Sir George Williams University (SGWU) in 1948, when it received a university charter from the provincial government, though it remained the education arm of the Montreal YMCA. SGWU expanded into its first standalone building, the Norris Building, in 1956. It established a Centre for Human Relations and Community Studies in 1963. SGWU continued to hold classes in the
John Francon Williams publisher and editor George Newnes (Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet) – now regarded as the founding father of popular journalism – during the years when Newnes was building his publishing empire. It was during this period that Williams also founded his own publication. In 1887, Williams founded and edited the monthly magazine, "Stories Illustrated". In 1888, Philips' published several geographical atlases they named 'Handy-Volumes' compiled and written by Williams that were distributed widely worldwide; ‘All these compact and clearly-printed miniature works, suitable for pocket or desk, and rightly named ‘Handy-Volumes’ are supplied with indexes, and geographical, statistical and historical notes,