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Harold Borden

Killed on 16 July 1900
at Witpoort, South Africa

Photographs of
Monument

Canning
Kings County
Nova Scotia

Located in the intersection of Main Street (Highway 221) and North Avenue (Highway 358)

GPS location:   45°09'27"N   64°25'14"W

Planting flowers for the summer season

Photographed on 15 July 2005

Harold Lothrop Borden monument
Canning, Kings County, Nova Scotia

Photographed on 13 September 2002

West face

Photographed on 13 September 2002

West face

Photographed on 13 September 2002

West plaque detail, lower right corner

The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co.
Founders   N.Y. — 1903
The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company was a prominent New York City art foundry.
It operated under the name E. Henry & Bonnard from 1872 to 1881,
and as The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company from 1882 to 1926.

East face

Photographed on 9 October 2002

East plaque, Witpoort

Photographed on 19 May 2003

East plaque detail, upper left corner

The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co.
Founders   N.Y.   1903
Photographed 19 May 2003

East plaque detail, upper right corner

Hamilton MacCarthy, Sculptor
Photographed 19 May 2003

North plaque, Vet River

Photographed on 19 May 2003

North plaque detail, upper left corner

The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co.
Founders   N.Y.   1903
Photographed 19 May 2003

North plaque detail, upper right corner

Hamilton MacCarthy, Sculptor
Photographed 19 May 2003

Unveiling ceremony, 23 September 1903: close view (above), wide view (below)

For this rare photograph, thanks to Mr. Ian T. Curry of Granville Beach,
Annapolis County, whose grandfather, Archabald William Gillis, attended this
unveiling ceremony as a Captain with the 69th Annapolis Regiment, Infantry.

Mr. Gillis lived in Paradise, Annapolis County.  Mr. Curry found this photograph
in his mother's house, after she died in December 2004 at age 91.

Winter

Photographed on 20 February 2004

Winter

Photographed on 25 January 2005

Busy location – installing new concrete curb along Main Street

Photographed on 27 June 2003

Map showing the location of the Harold Borden monument
Canning, Kings County, Nova Scotia
Roads are shown as they were in 1956.
Except for the Greenwich Connector to Highway 101,
the layout of the roads in 2006 has not changed
much from that shown here.

How Did Canada Get Into the Boer War?

...For decades before 1899, the Dutch settlers of South Africa (known as Boers or Afrikaners) had fought for an independent homeland. The British colonial officials in the Cape Colony and the Natal struggled mightily to subdue the Boers, but had to settle for a policy of mutual forbearance.

All this changed when gold (the oil of the 19th century) was discovered in South Africa in 1886 ... The British put increasing pressure on the Afrikaners until war broke out in October 1899.

As fighting started in South Africa, the British turned to their colonies for aid ... Sir Wilfred Laurier, the popular Liberal prime minister of Canada, faced a dilemma ... His anti-war sentiments echoed those of his French Canadian compatriots, many of whom regarded the war as an unnecessary imperialist adventure and sympathized with the nationalist aspirations of the Afrikaners. In 1900, students in Montreal clashed with police in a violent anti-British riot.

In English Canada, sympathies ran strongly the other way. Such Canadian militarists as Montreal Star publisher Hugh Graham argued that Britain was our largest trading partner and closest ally, therefore deserving of our support. Abandoning Britain in its moment of need would be an act of gross disloyalty, according to the pro-Empire press.

Torn between English and French Canada, surrounded by the din of loud voices for and against the war, Laurier hit upon a master stroke. On October 18, 1899, Laurier announced that "in view of the well-known desire of a great many Canadians who are ready to take service" on behalf of the Empire, he would support the creation of a volunteer force. The Canadian government would equip and transport any volunteers eager to fight the Boers, but once in South Africa, they would be the responsibility of the British government.

Laurier also encouraged private individuals to help defer the costs of the Canadian unit. This request was taken up by Lord Strathcona, the High Commissioner in London, who paid out of his own pocket for a unit of mounted rifles.

In all, more than 7,000 Canadians signed up as volunteers to fight in the Boer War. Fighting under British commanders, they served with great distinction and won praise from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and a chronicler of the war. "Smith-Dorrien's Nineteenth Brigade, comprising the Shropshires, the Cornwalls, the Gordons and the Canadians, [was] probably the very finest brigade in the whole army," Doyle wrote...

— Jeet Heer in the National Post, 5 April 2003, page A17

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