On Christmas Day 1920, Lionel G. and Emma L. Amsden dedicated a pair of English made bronze alms dishes to St. Alban’s Cathedral in honour of their son, William George Amsden. Born in Detroit, Michigan on March 23, 1888, Amsden moved with his parents to Toronto as a boy. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science and was working as an engineer at the Consolidated Optical Company, for which his father was vice-president, when he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on March 1, 1916. He belonged to the 12th York Regiment Militia in Toronto and was promoted to lieutenant in the 4th Battalion on November 2, 1917. While fighting in Amiens, Lieutenant Amsden was killed in action on August 8, 1918.
The alms dishes were likely lost in 1929 fire at St. Alban's. They were located in the Chapel of St. Alban-the-Martyr in Royal St. George's College at 120 Howland Avenue.