In 1891, a group of men gathered in Toronto intent on forming the city's first Highland regiment. The regiment was designated by the Militia Department with the number "48" and the word "Highlanders" and shortly thereafter Lieutenant-Colonel John Irvine Davidson assumed command of the newly constituted 48th Highlanders of Canada.
The Regiment was gazetted on October 16, 1891, and began to drill at Upper Canada College. It first marched out on the 21 April, 1892, to be greeted by crowds of cheering Torontonians. On the Queen's Birthday that year, the Regiment was presented with its first set of colours by His Excellency Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada.
With Captain John Irvine Davidson as the first commanding officer, the 48th Highlanders of Canada first saw active service in the South African War when 17 Highlanders accompanied the First Canadian contingent overseas. Following the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Davidson in April of 1910, the regiment purchased a large burial lot in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
Late in the afternoon of Thanksgiving Monday, October 28, 1912, the train bringing 700 troops back to the city from a sham battle that had been held that day near Milton, Ontario, crashed into the Detroit Flyer, a passenger train bound for that American city. The impact at Streetsville Junction was minimal, but one of the cars in which many of the 48th Highlanders were travelling was very old and completely demolished. Two highlanders were killed and 30 were injured. In tribute to the deceased soldiers, Privates Mac Murdock and John Bannatyne, a special monument was prepared for the regiment’s lot. Later, inscriptions were added for the regiment’s battle honours, South African War and the First and Second World Wars.
This monument was moved in 1969 to a more prominent location on the main road into the cemetery, a few yards east of Mount Pleasant Road.
