The Eagle Lectern is a memorial to three parishioners of Church of St. Bartholomew, who were lost in the Boer War. The war was fought from 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902 and marked the second overseas employment of soldiers of the Canadian Army (the first had been the Nile Expedition of 1884 -1885, though these soldiers served in a combat support capacity rather than in a combat role). The war was fought between the British Empire and two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic).
The corner-stone of Church of St. Bartholomew was laid by the Governor General on 9 May 1868. On Christmas Day of that year the first service was held in the unfinished interior. The architect was Thomas Seaton Scott of Montreal, who later became the Public Works architect and designer of the West Block tower on Parliament Hill.
