Arthur Hair

The origin of the Last Post Fund begins with Arthur Hair. Born in England in 1873, Hair emigrated to Quebec at age 13. After joining the militia at 16 and serving in the Canadian Army for a number of years, he returned to Britain. There he joined the British Army and served with the Royal Horse Artillery in India and then in the South African Warbefore leaving the military in 1902. Hair returned to Canada and became the head orderly at the Montréal General Hospital.

In December 1908, an elderly man named James Daly was found in a downtown doorway and taken to the Montréal General Hospital. Suffering from exposure and malnutrition, he was clearly dying.

Arthur Hair happened to see a blue envelope sticking out of Daly’s pocket. A British Veteran himself, he recognized it as the type issued to soldiers on discharge from the British Army. He opened the envelope (the only possession the impoverished Daly had) and saw that the man had served for 21 years, including the Crimean War of 1854 to 1856.

In a time before Canada had social programs like welfare and medicare, there were many British Veterans who emigrated to Canada but ended up in dire economic circumstances, especially as they grew older. Their military pensions were small and these brave men often left behind insufficient assets to cover the cost of their own funerals.

Hair was concerned that Daly would not be given a proper burial and approached a local Veterans’ organization for help. There were few of these organizations at the time and none were able to pay for the cost of burying impoverished Veterans on a regular basis.

Hair was shocked that Daly might not receive a dignified burial and raised money from friends and fellow hospital employees to do so. This encounter changed the course of Hair’s life and would lead to the establishment of the Last Post Fund.

The Last Post Fund

"To honour and protect in death seems but a small return to those who have protected their country in life."