Boer War Memorial Fountain

The Boer War Memorial Fountain was unveiled in 1903 to commemorate the service of Canadian soldiers in the South African War. The statue at the top of the fountain was modeled from a photograph of a local Canadian Mounted Rifleman, Billy Pickering, a well-known athlete from Halifax who went to South Africa after his adventures in the Klondike Gold Rush. Photos of him in uniform were sent to Macfarlane Iron Works in Glasgow, Scotland, and Billy Pickering actually ended up in the Macfarlane catalog of statues.

The statue is supported by a Corinthian capital surrounded by four cranes standing amid daffodils. On the lower levels are babies blowing horns and riding dolphins, lions spraying water in three directions, a long-eared squirrel nibbling an acorn, and a youngster with a bell flower hat sailing in a boat made of a big leaf. Macfarlane had been selling the bottom part of the fountain for about 15 years before the idea of a customizing it as a war memorial and his products were shipped around the world. The fountain has the Macfarlane foundry marks in several places.

Surrounding the fountain stands a collection of weeping trees including Weeping European Beech, Camperdown Elms and Weeping Ash. One of the Camperdown Elms was donated by the family of a Canadian soldier who died during the Boer War.

ERECTED
BY THE
COMMISSIONERS
OF THE
PUBLIC GARDENS
IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE SERVICES
OF OUR
CITIZEN SOLDIERS
IN THE
SOUTH AFRICAN
CAMPAIGN
1899~1902