Lost Monument

Lost Monument

Hamilton, Ontario

Type

Other

The Lost Monument was built in the 1890s to remember British soldiers in pre-Confederation Canada. Located near the ramparts, which date back to the Battle of Stoney Creek, the monument was unveiled on August 8, 1898. The site is not far from the Burlington Heights encampment used by the British during the War of 1812. However, no Veterans of that war appear to be buried at the Lost Monument site.

In 1894, Her Majesty's Army and the Navy Veterans' Society took over the plot. The burial ground for British soldiers who died between 1862 and 1868 was then converted into a burial plot for Veterans of the army and navy.

While the reasons why the monument was forgotten remain a mystery, the structure is in excellent condition, except the lettering is almost indecipherable. The monument is now part of Her Majesty's Army and the Navy Veterans' Society's annual Decoration Day program.

Inscription

[front/devant]
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED
BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
TO THE MEMORY OF
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
AND PRIVATES OF THE BRITISH
ARMY BELONGING TO THE
FOLLOWING REGIMENTS
WHO DIED FROM 1862 - 1868
AND ARE INTERRED HERE.
ROYAL ARTILLERY RIFLE BRIGADE
16TH, 29TH, 39TH, 47TH, 62ND,
63RD, & 100TH REGIMENTS &
MILITARY TRAIN.

THEY SAHLL BE MINE, OH! LAY THEM DOWN
TO SLUMBER,
CALM IN THE STROUNG ASSURANCE THAT HE GIVES
HE CALLS THEM BY THEIR NAMES, HE KNOWS
THEIR NUMBER,
AND THEY SHALL LIVE AS SURELY AS HE LIVES.

[right side/côté droit]

IN MEMORY OF THE UNDERMENTIONED
MEMBERS OF H.M. ARMY & NAVY
VETERANS SOCIETY OF HAMILTON
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE
GREAT WAR OF 1914 - 1919

SBP/ER MAJ. G. MITCHELL 16th BATT C.E.F.
CORP. J. S.HAMPSON 11th BATTERY C.E.F.
PTE. E. LANE 92nd BATT C.E.F.

[left side/côté gauche]

SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF 39 NON-
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND
MEN OF THE FIRST MANCHESTER
REGIMENT KILLED IN THE DEFENCE
OF LADYSMITH SOUTH AFRICA
A.D. 1900.