This plaque by Mappin & Webb Ltd honours members of the Montreal Curling Club who served overseas during the Great War 1914-1918.
This plaque was erected for the Montreal Thistle Club, which was founded in 1840 and incorporated in 1870. The plaque is now in the collection of the Canadian War Museum.
Montreal Thistle Curling Club Fonds
Originating in Scotland, the game of curling became very popular in the 19th century in Montreal and other Canadian cities. Growing interest in the sport inspired the founding of the Montreal Thistle Curling Club on December 19, 1843, by a small group of Montrealers made up of Messrs. D. McTavish, Robert Speirs, John Bethune, Richard Harrison, John Auld, John and William Greenshields, J. B. Torry, Robert Muir, J. Simpson and John Armour, Jr.
Club members initially played outdoors on the frozen St. Lawrence River and then two years later created a rink in an old flour shed near the Lachine Canal. The Montreal Thistle Curling Club began competing against other sports teams from Quebec and Ontario in 1845. The Club was incorporated in 1870 and inaugurated its new rink on St. Monique Street on December 24 of the same year. However, in 1911, the Canadian National Railway Company expropriated the association's land and property for an expansion project. The following year, the Montreal Thistle Curling Club established its new site at 1490 Fort Street. The 1930s were key years in the association's history as it gained recognition at numerous competitions. In 1933, the Club won five major trophies: the Jubilee Trophy, the Governor General's Trophy, the Holt Renfrew Cup, the Quebec City Cup and the Heather Bonspiel.
Interest in curling started to fade in the late 1970s and the Montreal Thistle Curling Club lost a significant number of members, causing its revenues drop even as its tax burden rose. One hundred and fifty-six years after its founding, financial difficulties forced the association to close its physical doors in the fall of 1999.
