Monday Monuments and Memorials – John Hewitt Laird, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City

Memorial plaque to John Hewitt Laird, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec City

Every soldier tells a story.

John Hewitt Laird was the son of John and Julia Grace Irvine Laird, born in Quebec City. He attended Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. When he attested in August 1916, he listed his profession as bank clerk. He was killed at Hill 70 on 15 August 1917, weeks before his 20^th birthday.

Monday Monuments and Memorials – Memorial Tablets, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City

Holy Trinity Cathedral parishioners killed in WW1

Holy Trinity Cathedral parishioners who served in WW1

Two bronze tablets in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Quebec City honour those who served and died in WW1. Palm leaves flank the names on both tablets, with the years 1914-1918 at the bottom.

“Ave atque vale” (hail and farewell) tops the tablet and “God gave them victory and glorious death” follows names of the 21 parishioners who died:

Monday Monuments and Memorials – John Samuel Brown, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City

Plaque to remember John Samuel Brown, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City

Every soldier tells a story. John Samuel (Jack) Brown was born on 16 November 1890 in Port Hope, Ontario, the second son of William Holmes Brown and Fannie Louisa Banks Brown of Quebec City. He graduated with honours from Bishop’s College in 1910, then taught classics in Rothsay Collegiate School in New Brunswick. In 1912, he entered medical school at McGill University in Montreal.

Monday Monuments and Memorials – Lt Col Herbert Carington Smith, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City

Every soldier tells a story. Herbert Carington Smith was born on 27 June 1866, the fourth child (of eight) of Robert Herbert Smith and Amelia Jane LeMeasurier. In 1909, he married Helen Lawton. Their daughter Helen Carington was born the following year. After attending the Royal Military College in Kingston, Herbert served a long career in the British Army. He was commanding officer of the 2nd Hampshire Regiment in the Dardanelles at the Battle of Gallipoli, where he was killed in action on 25 April 1915. He is remembered on the Helles Memorial on the Gallipoli peninsula, in the Canadian Book of Remembrance, and on this tablet in Holy Trinity Cathedral, 31 rue des Jardins, Quebec City.

Monday Monuments and Memorials – James Anderson Murray, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec City

Plaque in memory of James A Murray, killed in Halifax Explosion, 6 December 1917

Every sailor tells a story.

James Anderson Murray was born in Manchester on 17 January 1860. At age 14 he went to sea, working his way up from ship’s boy to captain. In 1892, he married Emily Shickle. They had a daughter, Phyllis.

In the early 1900s, Murray worked for the shipping line of Canadian Pacific Railways, sailing between Liverpool in England and Quebec and Montreal on the St Lawrence River. He was captain of the Empress of Britain and, briefly, the Empress of Ireland. In 1914, he retired from Canadian Pacific to become harbourmaster in Quebec. His family moved from England to Quebec City.

Monday Monuments and Memorials – James William Williams, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec City

Every soldier tells a story.

James William Williams – Jim to family and friends – was born on 19 January 1888, the first son of Rt Rev Lennox Williams (Bishop of Quebec, 1915-1935) and Caroline Annie (Nan) Williams (nee Rhodes). He was named for his grandfather, who had also been Bishop of Quebec. Photos on a family website show an active childhood with many cousins. He attended Bishop’s University for a year, then earned a BA from St John’s College, Oxford.

Williams attested in September 1915, serving in the 87^th Battalion (Canadian Grenadier Guards). He married Evelyn Meredith on 3 Jan 1916. His unit sailed from Halifax to England in Apr 1916 and from England to France in Aug 1916. ACM Thomson, his best friend and wife’s cousin, was on board, too. Letters to his parents from France are posted on the family website.