 Boer War Monument, Province House | |
| Coordinates | 44°38′53.86″N063°34′24.65″W / 44.6482944°N 63.5735139°W Coordinates: 44°38′53.86″N063°34′24.65″W / 44.6482944°N 63.5735139°W |
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| Location | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Designer | Hamilton MacCarthy |
| Type | War memorial |
| Opening date | 1901 |
| Dedicated to | Those who fought in the Boer War |
The South African War Memorial is a memorial located in the courtyard of Province House in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
On October 19, 1901, the Prince of Wales (the future George V) laid the cornerstone for the monument. (This was the first visit to Canada by a Prince and Princess of Wales.) The Prince also gave medals to returning soldiers. Two weeks later, on November 1, the heroes of Paardeberg returned and marched triumphantly down George Street.
The statue was made by Hamilton MacCarthy (who also made the Boer War Monument in the Halifax Public Gardens and the Harold Lothrop Borden statue in Canning). At the base of the statue are four panels. One panel is of the departure of troops from Halifax en route to South Africa; another is the Battle of Witpoort, which made Harold Lothrop Borden the most famous Canadian casualty of the war; another depicts the Battle of Paardeberg (Canada's most significant battle of the war, with the most casualties); and the fourth panel is of the Siege of Mafeking. These panels were also meant to honour the three Canadian Services that fought in the war: the infantry, mounted rifles and artillery. The Princess Louise Fusiliers of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Highlanders participated in the war.
For two decades afterwards, Canadians would gather on February 27 (known in Canada as "Paardeberg Day") around memorials to the South African War to say prayers and honour veterans. This continued until the end of the First World War, when Armistice Day (later called Remembrance Day) began to observed on November 11. [1]
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| Military history of Nova Scotia |
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The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the British prime minister, was in the besieged town, as also was Lady Sarah Wilson, a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and aunt of Winston Churchill. The siege turned the British commander, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, into a national hero. The Relief of Mafeking, while of little military significance, was a morale boost for the struggling British.
John Taylor Wood was an officer in the United States Navy and the Confederate Navy. He resigned from the U.S. Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War, and became a "leading Confederate naval hero" as a captain in the Confederate Navy. He was a lieutenant serving aboard CSS Virginia when it engaged USS Monitor in 1862, one of the most famous naval battles in Civil War and U.S. Naval history. He was caught in 1865 in Georgia with Confederate President Jefferson Davis' party, but escaped and made his way to Cuba. From there, he got to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he settled and became a merchant. His wife and children joined him there, and more children were born in Canada, which is where he lived out the remainder of his life.
Sir Frederick William Borden, was a Canadian politician. While he was the Minister for Militia and Defence, he was the father of the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War Harold Lothrop Borden. Historians credit him with creating and financing a modernised Canadian militia with a staff and medical, transport, and signals that proved important for allowing Canadian ground forces to deploy with their own support services as self-contained national contingents, albeit in an imperial framework. In this sense, he helped to create the foundations for the Canadian Expeditionary Force of 1914–1918.
Province House in Halifax is where the Nova Scotia legislative assembly, known officially as the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, has met every year since 1819, making it the longest serving legislative building in Canada. The building is Canada's oldest house of government. Standing three storeys tall, the structure is considered one of the finest examples of Palladian architecture in North America.
Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT).
The Halifax Public Gardens are Victorian era public gardens formally established in 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation. The gardens are located in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia on the Halifax Peninsula near the popular shopping district of Spring Garden Road and opposite Victoria Park. The gardens were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984.
Canning is a village in northeastern Kings County, Nova Scotia located at the crossroads of Route 221 and Route 358.
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley.
St. Paul's Church is an evangelical Anglican church in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, within the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is located at the south end of the Grand Parade, an open square in downtown Halifax with Halifax City Hall at the northern end.
The South African War Memorial is a memorial located at University Avenue and Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The history of Nova Scotia covers a period from thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Nova Scotia were inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the region was claimed by France and a colony formed, primarily made up of Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. This time period involved six wars in which the Mi'kmaq along with the French and some Acadians resisted the British invasion of the region. During Father Le Loutre's War, the capital was moved from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to the newly established Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749). The warfare ended with the Burying the Hatchet ceremony (1761). After the colonial wars, New England Planters and Foreign Protestants emigrated to Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, Loyalists emigrated to the colony. During the nineteenth century, Nova Scotia became self-governing in 1848 and joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867.
Lieutenant-General John Wimburn Laurie, was a soldier and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada for thirty years and then returned to England.
The Boer War Memorial is a monument to the heroes of the Boer War. It is located at Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal, in Quebec, Canada.
Lieutenant Harold Lothrop Borden was from Canning, Nova Scotia and the only son of Canada's Minister of Defence and Militia, Frederick William Borden and related to future Prime Minister Robert Laird Borden. Serving in the Royal Canadian Dragoons, he became the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War. Queen Victoria asked F. W. Borden for a photograph of his son, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier praised his services, tributes arrived from across Canada, and in his home town a monument was erected to his memory.
Nova Scotia is a Canadian province located in Canada's Maritimes. The region was initially occupied by Mi'kmaq. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the colony was primarily made up of Catholic Acadians, Maliseet and Mi'kmaq. During the latter seventy-five years of this time period, there were six colonial wars that took place in Nova Scotia. After agreeing to several peace treaties, this long period of warfare ended with the Halifax Treaties (1761) and two years later when the British defeated the French in North America (1763). During these wars, Acadians, Mi'kmaq and Maliseet from the region fought to protect the border of Acadia from New England. They fought the war on two fronts: the southern border of Acadia, which New France defined as the Kennebec River in southern Maine. The other front was in Nova Scotia and involved preventing New Englanders from taking the capital of Acadia, Port Royal, establishing themselves at Canso.
Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy was one of the earliest masters of monumental bronze sculpture in Canada. He is known for his historical sculptures, in particular his Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (1904) as well as Samuel de Champlain overlooking Parliament Hill on Nepean Point, Ottawa (1915), next to the National Gallery of Canada. His monument to the Ottawa volunteers who died in the South African War (1902) was moved to Confederation Park in 1969 after several moves. Other works include that of Ottawa mayor, Samuel Bingham, in Notre-Dame Cemetery in Vanier.
The Sebastopol Monument is a triumphal arch that is located in the Old Burial Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arch commemorates the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855), which is one of the classic sieges of all times. This arch is the 4th oldest war monument in Canada (1860). It is the only monument to the Crimean War in North America. The arch and lion were built in 1860 by stone sculptor George Lang to commemorate British victory in the Crimean war and the Nova Scotians who had fought in the war.
The Battle of Witpoort was a battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. Major Frederick Henry Munn commanded the detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers at Witpoort which was attacked on 16 July 1900, his orders being to "hold his position at all costs". The Boers called on Major Munn to surrender, but, scornfully refusing, he held out from daybreak till 2 pm, when the Canadian forces mounted a counterattack and the Boers retired. The battle became famous because of the death of Harold Lothrop Borden.
Lieutenant Charles Carroll Wood was the first Canadian Officer to die in the Second Boer War. As a member of a family that had distinguished itself in America, his great grandfather being Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States, he was buried with full military honours.