Arthur Cenotaph

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Arthur Cenotaph

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
front left plaques

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
front right plaques

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
right side plaques

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
left side plaques

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials
Women Memorial Workers plaque

Photo credit: Tamra Thomson, Great War 100 Reads
statue

Photo credit: Tim Laye, Ontario War Memorials

Municipality/Province: Arthur, ON

Memorial number: 35094-002

Type: Wall, statues

Address: Frederick Street West and George Street

Location: Memorial Park

GPS coordinates: Lat: 43.8323152 Long: -80.5379758

Submitted by: Robert Shipley. Derek Pullen. Arthur and Area Historical Society.

Forty-one soldiers from Arthur were killed in the First World War and many more were wounded. Arthur Enterprise News editor Rixon Rafter first had the idea of a soldiers’ memorial in December of 1918. The next year, a group of local ladies organized under the name of the Women Memorial Workers with an objective to honour these men. They suggested a cenotaph and park at the corner of George and Frederick Streets, despite those who thought the former site of livery stables was inappropriate. Council agreed and purchased the land for $500. Donations came from many sources, such as bazaars and groups of former citizens living in Toronto.

The Arthur Cenotaph was built with stones gathered from local farms and was the first fieldstone cenotaph built in the province. Architect Major J.M. Gibson of Toronto was raised in Arthur and had commanded some of the local soldiers overseas. Ed Doherty, a local stone mason, was the contractor. The federal government donated the marble slab in the center of the cenotaph with the cross embedded in it. On August 6, 1923, before a large crowd at the conclusion of a three-hour ceremony, the monument was unveiled by Mrs. Mary Brocklebank, President of the Women Memorial Workers, her son Stanley had died of wounds in France in 1918, and Margaret Chambers, who had lost her son, Private Robert Chambers, to the war.

In January 1930, the park and cenotaph were turned over to the town along with a bond of $11,000 for perpetual care. The cenotaph was rebuilt in 1995 to bring the plaques from different conflicts together. In 1970, Dutch citizens donated benches and lights to the park in thanks for the Canadian liberation of Holland during the Second World War. In 1995, a Homecoming Committee unveiled a memorial recognizing Arthur’s history as “Canada’s Most Patriotic Village.”

On September 16, 2000, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 226 unveiled four plaques honouring those who served and came home, including those who served in the Merchant Marine and the Korean War. A plaque in the walkway in front of the cenotaph was added by the Arthur and Area Historical Society and Arthur Revitalization Committee in 2010 recounting the work of Women Memorial Workers. The two statues placed in 2011 were a project of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 226. In 2016, 700 red and white tulips were planted in beds at the front of the park, gifts from Holland.

Inscription found on memorial

[front/devant]
(plaque)
IN PROUD AND HONOURED MEMORY OF THE MEN OF
ARTHUR, WHOSE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED OPPOSITE,
AND WHO DIED FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY.
THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED SO THAT
AFTER GENERATIONS IN THIS PLACE MAY THE BETTER
KNOW THE COST TO US OF THIS PRESERVATION AND
CONTINUANCE OF BRITISH LIBERTY AND DEMOCRACY
ARTHUR MEMORIAL WORKERS , AUGUST, 1923.

(plaque)
1939 – 1945
BELL W. NELSON
ELLIOTT JOHN A.
EPOCK JEROME
FLEWELLING CHARLES R.
GAFFNEY MICHAEL
HEFFERNAN AUSTIN
HILLIER RAYMOND S.
JAMIESON WALTER
LITTLE R. CALDER
MARTIN JOHN R.
MCCONNELL R. IRVINE
MCFARLANE R. LESLIE
PARK SAMUEL

(plaque)
WWII HONOR ROLL

H. DOYLE
J. DOYLE
J. DOYLE
P. DOYLE
C. DRISCOLL
D. DRISCOLL
F. DRISCOLL
M. DRISCOLL
V. DRISCOLL
L. ECCLES
W. EDEN
A. EDWARDS
B. ELLIOTT
H. ELLIOTT
K. ELLIOTT
J, EPOCH
F. FARLEY
M. FARLEY
F. FARRELL
J. FARRELL
P. FARRELL
S. FARRELL
D. FINN
A. FITZPATRICK
A. FITZPATRICK
G. FITZPATRICK
J. FITZPATRICK
J. FOWLIE
G. FRANCIS
J. FRASER
J. GAFFNEY
C. GAINER
L. GAINER
M. GAINER
T. GAINER
A. GEAR
A. GIBSON
K.GILDER
R. GILDER
D. GIVENS
J. GIVENS
G. GODFREY
J. GOMPF
S. GOULDING
G. GOWLAND
J. GRAY
A. GREEN
K. GREEN
M. GREEN
S. GREEN
V. GREEN
W. GREEN
A. GRIFFITHS
F. HAILEY
F. HAILEY
S. HALLIDAY
A. HARDMAN
B. HARRIS
R. HASTIE
C. HAWLEY
A. HAYES
A. HAYES
F. HAYES
G. HAYES
J. HAYES
J. HAYES
L. HAYES
C. HEFFERNAN
C. HEFFERNAN
F. HEFFERNAN
J. HEFFERNAN
V. HEFFERNAN
G. HENDERSON
W. HENRY
M. HERRIOT
G. HOLLIS
R. HOLLIS
D. HOPKINS
P. KOPKINS
E. JACKSON
G. JACKSON
R. JACKSON
R. JAMES
F. JENNINGS
D. JORDAN
M. JORDAN
F. KELLY
P. KENNEDY
L. KERR
H. KIDNIE
W. KIDNIE
G. KNOWLES
E. LANGDON
H. LANGDON
W. LANGDON
H. LAWRENCE
A. LEIGHTON
C. LEIGHTON
J. LENNOX
D. LEWIS
E. LIVINGSTON
W. LIVINGSTON

(plaque)
1914 – 1918

(plaque)
1939 – 1945
POVEY EDWARD
PRINGLEMEIR LEO M.
PRIOR KENNETH
ROCHE THOMAS
SAMUEL ALLAN G.
SAMUEL ROSS L.
SCHMIDT FREDERICK J.
SCHMIDT LEO V.
SCHMIDT RAY J.
SHAW CLARENCE A.
TROUGHTON T. WHITNEY
WATERS MERVIN H.

(plaque)
WWII HONOR ROLL

I. LOWERY
J. LYNES
W. LYNETT
H. MACDERMOTT
C. MACDONALD
K. MACDONALD
R. MACDONALD
W. MACDONALD
H. MACDOUGALL
R. MACPHERSON
L. MAINLAND
A. MALONE
O. MARSHALL
W. MARSHALL
A. MARTIN
L. MCARTHUR
E. MCCABE
A. MCCULLOCH
R. MCCULLOCH
J. MCCURRY
J. MCDONOGH
G. MCEWEN
D. MCFADZEAN
B. MCFARLANE
A. MCGIVNEY
J. MCGIVNEY
P. MCGIVNEY
L. MCGOLDRICK
A. MCGRATH
A. MCGRATH
L. MCGRATH
L. MCGROREY
V. MCGROREY
N. MCINNIS
H. MCKERRACHER
P. MCNABB
D. MCNAMARA
F. MCNAMARA
L. MCNAMARA
A. MCWATERS
J. MCWATERS
T. MEYERS
A. MITCHELL
B. MITCHELL
G. MITCHELL
I. MITCHELL
N. MITCHELL
E. MORRISON
A. MORTLEY
C. MORTLEY
H. MORTLEY
J. MULLIN
J. MULLIN
K. MULLIN
G. MURCHISON
J. MURCHISON
S. OAKES
W. OAKES
J. O’DONNELL
J. O’DONNELL
M. O’DONNELL
P. O’DONNELL
W. O’DONNELL
K. O’NEIL
P. O’NEIL
P. PASSMORE
R. PASSMORE
A. PATTERSON
M. PATTERSON
R. PHILIP
H. PHILP
H. PICKETT
M. PICKETT
J. PINDER
N. PLUME
A. PRENTICE
G. PRENTICE
D. PRINGLEMEIR
F. PRINGLEMEIR
J. PRINGLEMEIR
P. PRINGLEMEIR
B. PRIOR
J. PRIOR
N. PRIOR
R. PRIOR
L. QUINLAN
M. QUINLAN
E. RAFTIS
F. RAFTIS
G. RAFTIS
J. RAFTIS
J. RAFTIS
L. RAFTIS
M. RAFTIS
P. RAFTIS
T. RAFTIS
W. RAFTIS
G. REEVES
R. RENDALL
J. RIORDON
H. RITCHIE
F. ROACH
H. ROBERTSON
G. ROBINSON
M. ROCHE

[right side/côté droit]
(plaque)
HONOR ROLL

A. KEELEY
J. KELLEHER
W. KENNEDY
W. KIRK
L. LANDES
G. LANGDON
W. LANGDON
A. C. LENNOX
W. J. MAGWOOD
P. MAGWOOD
J. MILNE
T. MILNE
H. MITCHELL
J. MITCHELL
J. N. MITCHELL
J. J. MORROW
A. MURDOCK
G. MCDOUGALL
N. A. MCEACHERN
P. MCGARVEY
W. MCGAUGHEY
G. MCGINN
L. MCGINN
N. MCTAVISH
P. MCTAVISH
T. NEWELL
J. NORRIS
G, O’NEILL
J. O’REILLY
A. O’STRANDER
G. O’STRANDER
R. PARR
A. PATTERSON
G. PATTERSON
J. B. PAULIN
J, PENDERGAST
H. PHILP
J. PINDER
L. PINDER
G. PRENTICE
O. PRENTICE
R. PRIOR
E. J. RAFTER
C. SANDERSON
W. SAUNDERS
D. SCHMIDT
L. SCHMIDT
A. SHAW
H. SHAW
R. SHAW
H. SHORT
W. SHORT
P. SIM
M. SMALL
O. G. SMALL
K. SNIDER
E. E. SNIDER
L. STEPHENS
M. STORTZ
G. SCANLON
E. TERNAN
A. THOMSON
S. TINDALE
F. WATERS
D. WILKINS
R. WILKINS
J. WOODCOCK
W. WOODCOCK
H. WEST

(plaque)
WWII HONOR ROLL

P. ROCHE
G. ROGERS
H. ROONEY
A. ROSS
W. RUTHERFORD
E. RYAN
A. SAMUEL
K. SAMUELS
H. SAUNDERS
A. SCHMIDT
B. SCHMIDT
F. SCHMIDT
L. SCHMIDT
L. SCHMIDT
E. SCHOLZ
G. SHANAHAN
H. SHANAHAN
S. SHAW
E. SHEEHY
J. SHEEHY
R. SIVELL
G. SMALL
J. SMALL
R. SMALL
D. SMELTZER
E. SMELTZER
G. SMELTZER
K. STEPHENS
N. STEWART
J. STORTZ
J. STORTZ
A. SUSSMAN
B. SWEENEY
S. SWIFT
F. SZABLOWSKI
O. TERNAN
A. THOMPSON
E. THOMPSON
E. TONE
F. TONE
H. TONE
H. TOWRISS
K. TOWRISS
A. TREMAIN
I. TREMAIN
M. TRUEMNER
R. TRUEMNER
R. TURNER
A. VANCE
R. VANCE
J. WALSH
K. WATERS
D. WATSON
N. WEADICK
L. WILLIAMS
G. WILSON
G. WILSON
J. WILSON
R. WINTERS
M. WOODS
R. WORTHINGTON
H. WRIGHT
J. WRIGHT
KOREA
C. COLE
L. RIDSDALE
W. RIDSDALE

[left side/côté gauche]
(plaque)
HONOR ROLL

W. ALLEN
J. R. ANDERSON
K. ANDERSON
W. ATTIE
H. BELL
T. BELL
J. BENNETT
W. BILLINGS
E. BINNS
L. BLACKWELL
J. BOYD
H. BRADLEY
P. BRADLEY
L. BROWNLEE
L. BUNNELL
C. BURT
H. BURTON
W. S. BUSCHLEN
R. BROCK
M. CAMPBELL
J. CAMPBELL
J. CANE
H. CARBIN
J. CARROLL
W. CARROLL
J. J. CASEY
A. COLE
A. CORBETT
C. H. COOPER
E. COOPER
W. DEANS
A. DENSMORE
J. DINGMAN
J. DODGE
A. DOWLING
J. DOWLING
M. DUNN
L. ELLIOTT
L. ELLIS
F. FAIR
P. FARLEY
L. FARLEY
B. FARRELL
M. I. FARRELL
T. FARRELLY
J. FITZPATRICK
C. FITZPATRICK
W. FLETCHER
C. FORD
E. FORD
C. FULLER
C. GIBSON
J. M. GIBSON
W. G. GILPIN
W. GILPIN
W. GRANT
W. HADLAND
R. HALDANE
W. HALDANE
M. HAMMILL
F. HAMILTON
F.R. HARVEY
J. HENDERSON
E. HELLYER
W. J. HOLLIS
A. HOWES
G. HOWSON
H. HOWSON

(plaque)
WWII HONOR ROLL

J. ADAMS
L. ALEXANDER
M. ALEXANDER
M. ALLAN
M. ALLAN
L. ALLEN
J. ANDERSON
K. ANDERSON
L. ANDERSON
O. ANDREWS
B. ARMSTRONG
C. ARMSTRONG
H. BAILEY
N. BAILEY
A. BANKS
P. BARBER
W. BARLEY
K. BARRETT
B. BELL
F. BELL
J. BELL
A. BOLEN
J. BOLEN
R. BOYD
D. BRILLINGER
A. BROWN
G. BUNNELL
J. BUNYAN
A. BUSCHLEN
W. BUSCHLEN
J. CARLAW
J. CARROLL
J. CHAMBERS
A. CLEMENTS
W. COFFEY
B. COLE
G. COLE
B. COLWILL
C. COLWILL
H. COLWILL
I. COLWILL
M. COLWILL
R. COLWILL
C. CONNELL
P. CONNORS
J. COOPER
P. COUGHLIN
R. COULTER
D. CREWSON
L. CULP
H. CURTIS
A. CURTIS
W. DAVIS
B. DAY
E. DAY
P. DAY
W. DAY
W. DAY
A. DINEEN
D. DINEEN
K. DINEEN
E. DINGMAN
J. DINGMAN
L. DINGMAN
G. DODGE
M. DODGE
L. DOWLING
F. DOYLE

[plaque in front of cenotaph/plaque devant le cénotaphe]
WOMEN MEMORIAL WORKERS

November 11, 1918. "The War to End All Wars" was over. In the Arthur area, 41
soldiers had been killed and many more wounded. Soon a group of local ladies were
organized under the name of the Women Memorial Workers. Their objective was to
honour those men from the area who had enlisted and especially those who had paid
the supreme sacrifice.

The Women purchased the three lots comprising this property and proceeded to raise
sufficient funds to build a Cenotaph Monument on the site. The project became a
community effort with hundreds making contributions. The architect was Major
Gibson of Toronto who had commanded some of the local soldiers overseas. The
contractor was Ed Doherty, a local stone mason, who had built many of the
foundations for the bank barns in the area. A decision was made to build the
monument with stones gathered from the local farms. It turned out to be the first
fieldstone Cenotaph Monument built in the Province.

On August 6, 1923, before the largest crowd ever assembled in the Village, Mrs. David
Brocklebank, President of the Women Memorial Workers, unveiled the monument at
the conclusion of a three-hour ceremony. The new Cenotaph received many
compliments including one from the Toronto Star that described it as "a memorial
whose beauty and design cannot be equaled in the Province".

After 1923, the Women continued their work landscaping the surrounding grounds
and, in 1930, turned the park and Cenotaph Monument over to the Village with a
considerable financial contribution for perpetual upkeep.

Funding for this plaque was provided by the Arthur and Area Historical Society and
the Arthur Revitalization Committee.

Street view

Note

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Date modified:: 2024-10-01