Shelbourne Memorial Trees

Shelbourne Street became Canada’s first Road of Remembrance on October 2, 1921. Some 5,000 people, including then-premier John Oliver and Lieutenant-Governor Walter Nichol, attended the planting ceremony, which also commemorated British Columbians who died in the Boer War. Original plans were for this to be a British Columbia memorial and to plant one memorial London Planetree for each for each soldier that did not come home. A goal eventually rendered unfeasible by the number of British Columbian soldiers killed (6,000) and there was only space for 800 trees. Other communities were developing their own memorials, so the memorial trees on Shelbourne became a memorial for the greater Victoria area.

A total of 600 trees were planted, running from Mount Douglas Park to Cedar Hill Cross Road in Saanich, and from Hillside to Bay Street in Victoria. Of those, 500 trees stood in Saanich. There were wrought-iron fences with commemorative plaques put around the trees to protect them.

In 1918, Canadians turned to the duty of commemorating the dead. Some promoted practical memorials like Roads of Remembrance. These linear tree-lined avenues had trees that were typically a single species, regularly spaced along each side of the avenue that would grow tall and stately. American elms were chosen for many of these avenues. A small plaque was used to assign a particular tree to a specific fallen soldier. In some cases, the next-of-kin was involved in purchasing the tree and/or plaque for the deceased soldier.

Roads of Remembrance were based on two symbol-laden images. The first was France’s tree-lined country avenues: long straight roads, with large elms on either side, beautiful and useful, and loved by the Canadians overseas. The second symbol was a living memorial: trees represented the victory of life over death. Memorial trees became living symbols of the sacrifices made in France and Belgium.

In October 1918, the Road of Remembrance project was supported by the Women’s Canadian Club, Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, Great War Veterans Association, British Empire Service League, Rotary and  Kiwanis Clubs, Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and the Good Roads Association.

On April 1, 1960, the District of Saanich’s Council unanimously approved the renaming of Shelbourne Street to Memorial Avenue. The renaming was never completed and today the name legally remains Shelbourne Street. During the 1960’s, the memorial trees from Cedar Hill Cross Road to Torquay were cut down so Shelbourne could be widened from two to four lanes. In 1961, at Gore Memorial Peace Park a small monument was erected in a renewed plan to complete the planting of London Planetrees on Shelbourne.

In the summer of 1971, trees were cut down at the corner of Shelbourne and MacKenzie to make room for a shopping mall. A petition started by two 12 year old girls, Stephanie Gould and Margo Tudman, was sent to the mayor to protest the trees that were cut and to stop more cutting.

In 1976 the Municipality of Saanich, the Heritage Tree Committee and the Victoria Horticultural Society established a small monument with a plaque where Elnido and San Juan meet Shelbourne.

The District of Saanich and the Memorial Avenue Committee rededicated Memorial Avenue on Shelbourne to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice and the 1921 Dedication of the Memorial London Planetrees. Saanich installed 30 sign toppers to recognize Memorial Avenue on Shelbourne. The sign toppers were placed on top of existing signs along Shelbourne Street between North Dairy Road and Mount Douglas Park. 

The signs depict the leaf of a London Planetree, which represents the memorial trees planted along Shelbourne. The leaf is coloured red, symbolizing the deep respect for the many who gave their lives for Canada, British Columbia and Greater Victoria. The leaf is flanked by two poppy symbols, which area registered trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion, Dominion Command. The memorial trees have come to represent those lost in all the wars that Canada participated in.

The trees now represent loss in all of Canada's wars. In 2010, the Grade 7 students at Gordon Head Middle School and their teacher Alex de Medeiros organized the planting of trees to commemorate two local soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

In 2018, The Generals Plant Memorial Trees interpretive panel at San Juan and Shelbourne Streets and the Roads of Remembrance interpretive panel at Gore Peace Memorial Park were installed.

[tablet at Shelbourne and Elnido/plaque à l’angle de la rue Shelbourne et du chemin Elnido]

IN MEMORIUM
VICTORIA AREA SOLDIERS
FALLEN IN WORLD WAR I
THESE HERITAGE TREES WERE PLANTED BY:
GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE SEPT. 21, 1922
LORD BYNG OF VIMY AUG. 24, 1922
JOSEPH J. CESARE JOFFRE MARCH 29, 1922
ERECTED BY THE MUNICIPALITY OF SAANICH
AND THE HERITAGE TREE COMMITTEE
VICTORIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1976

[memorial tree plaque/plaque commémorative de l’arbre]

THIS TREE WAS PLANTED
BY
GENERAL JOSEPH JACQUES CESAIRE JOFFRE
MARSHALL OF FRANCE
MARCH.29TH 1922

[sign topper medallions/médaillons pour support d’enseigne]

MEMORIAL AVENUE
LEST WE FORGET

[gatepost in Victoria at Shelbourne Memorial Street and Albert Street/poteau de barrière à Victoria, à l’angle de la rue Shelbourne Memorial et la rue Albert]

MEMORIAL AVENUE
LEST WE FORGET

Shelbourne
Memorial Trees

[gatepost in Saanich at Shelbourne Memorial Street and Cedar Hill Road/poteau de barrière à Saanich, à l’angle de la rue Shelbourne Memorial et du chemin Cedar Hill]

MEMORIAL AVENUE
LEST WE FORGET

Shelbourne
Memorial Trees

[interpretive panel at San Juan and Shelbourne/panneau d’interprétation à l’angle de l’avenue San Juan et de la rue Shelbourne]

The Generals Plant Memorial Trees

The significance of Shelbourne Memorial Avenue was recognized in visits paid by three VIPS in 1922.

Joseph Joffre

Hundreds of people lined the avenue in March 1922 to watch Joseph Joffre "vigourously shovelling earth" on the roots of a sapling London Planetree. Marshal Joffre was supreme commander of French forces in the first two years of the war of 1914-18. He came to Victoria to recognize the living  memorial and deliver personal tribute to the 6,000 British Columbians who died doing their bit in the Allied effort.

Julian Byng

The man who led the Canada Corps to its great victory at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 was Julian Byng. By August 1922, now recognized as 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, he had another important role: Canada's 12th Governor-General.

Among the crown gathered to observe Byng's tree-planting at Memorial Avenue were men who had served under his command in the Canada Corps. As popular a Governor-General as he had been a military commander, Byng conversed with several old soldiers and asked how they were doing in post-war civilian life. Veteran soldiers beamed with smiled at the attention paid them by Viscount Byng.

Arthur Currie

In September Sir Arthur Currie took his turn as memorial tree-planter. Before the war Currie had been a teacher, realtor and militia commander in Victoria. He had gone far: by the spring of 1917 Currie had succeeded Byng as commander of the entire Canada Corps.

"There is no better way to commemorate the deeds of these men, than by this avenue of trees. A tree is a living thing which will stand and grown and perpetually keep green the memory of the Canadian soldiers." - Arthur Currie

[interpretive panel at Gore Peace Memorial Park/panneau d’interprétation au Gore Peace Memorial Park ]

Roads of Remembrance

7,000 War Memorials

Canada has more than 7,000 war memorials. They come in many different varieties: stone soldiers, rock cairns, bronze tablets and polished granite obelisks are among the most common. Each war memorial is unique.

Roads of Remembrance

Roads of Remembrance are living memorials: avenues of trees planted to honour those who perished in war. This kind of memorial is not common: there are only seven across the country - from Montreal in the east to Victoria-Saanich in the west.

Thousands of citizens attended the 1921 dedication of Shelbourne Memorial Avenue. More than 1.6 km of automobiles lined both sides of the avenue. Immediately after Lieutenant-Governor W.C. Nichol planted the first tree, a bugler sounded the 'Last Post'. "He who plants a tree plants a hope," the Lieutenant-Governor said. "Old men plant young trees and the fruit of their planting goes to another age.

A Unique Memorial

The original intention was that Shelbourne Memorial Avenue should include one tree for every British Columbian who fell in the war. Some 600 trees were planted but that number would prove insufficient: ten times as many men and women of British Columbia died in the Great War (WWI).

Shelbourne Memorial Avenue is unique in three important ways. It is Canada's oldest, first dedicated in October 1921. In no other Canadian Road of Remembrance do original trees still survive and flourish. It is the only one featuring the London Planetree, a variety noted for its hardness and ability to endure damage and urban pollution. Something else makes the London Planetree entirely worthy as a war memorial: it can live more than 300 years.