TOPIC:

I have at last found a couple of reports relating to the distribution of the Toronto Ladies' testimonials (plaques and cups).

It seems they were only presented to members of the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles / Royal Canadian Dragoons (Second Canadian Contingent) and "C" Battery Royal Canadian Field Artillery.

A list of 90 recipients appeared in the Toronto Star (18 Jan 1901), though this is not exhaustive, with the paper noting that "Miss G. Elmsley of 13 Elmsley Place will be pleased to be advised if any names have been omitted from this list".
The fact that one of the known extant examples is to a man not on the list, shows that some names had indeed been omitted.
Also, the list in the Toronto Star does not include officers.

The presentation took place on Saturday 19th January 1901, in the Parliament Buildings, Toronto, in the presence of the Premier of Ontario (Sir George William Ross).

Mr Cockburn’s statement that “the cups and the plaques for the men had not all been completed” implies that some men received cups instead of plaques. As the plaques were inscribed to “their brave sons of the Royal Canadian Dragoons”, it seems likely that the men of the R.C.F.A. were the recipients of the cups. This would mean that a total of 78 plaques and 20 cups were distributed. Lieutenant-Colonel Lessard received a punch bowl.


LIST OF RECIPIENTS (1 punch bowl, 78 plaques & 20 cups)

KNOWN EXAMPLES HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN

Royal Canadian Dragoons (1 punch bowl & 78 plaques) –
Lieutenant-Colonel Francois Louis LESSARD (received a punch bowl)
Major William FORESTER
Veterinary-Major William Burray HALL
Captain and Adjutant Charles MacKleen NELLES
Lieutenant H.Z.C. COCKBURN
Lieutenant James H. ELMSLEY
6 Quartermaster-Sergeant George John SIMPKINS [Simkins]
51 Squadron Sergeant-Major James WIDGERY
53 Sergeant William RHOADES
54 Sergeant Herbert Frederick FULLER
55 Sergeant George HUDSON
??? Sergeant C.J. HENINGTON (no record found)
236 Sergeant Nathan MEDHURST
83 Sergeant Ernest Arthur STEER
87 Sergeant Lewis A. TILL
2 Trumpeter Sergeant Alfred Richard SKINNER
63 Corporal Michael John CALLAHAN (absent – not yet returned)
76 Corporal Samuel LATREOUILLE
93 Corporal Shoeing-Smith Albert John LOVEGROVE
101 Trooper Charles E. ANDERSON
102 Trooper William James ANDERSON
22 Trooper [Corporal] Emerson BALDWIN
59 Trooper [Corporal] Earl BATES
145 Trooper John BAXTER
45 Trooper Angus BEATON
103 Trooper Albert BOUCHARD
60 Trooper William Quinton BRAGG (absent – not yet returned)
104 Trooper Fergus BROWN
34 Trooper Frederick Walter BURITT
106 Trooper Samuel BURNETT
62 Trooper William Irvin BUTTERFIELD
108 Trooper Edwin CHAMBERS
64 Trooper John CLARK
65 Trooper Charles COOKE
110 Trooper William Edward CORDINGLEY
226 Trooper Charles Oswald DeLISLE (absent – not yet returned)
38 Trooper David H. DOUST
111 Trooper John Thomas DUGUID
112 Trooper Samuel James FARRELL (absent – not yet returned)
69 Trooper Edward FITZGERALD
115 Trooper Frank HARBOTTLE
116 Trooper J.W. HARMAN
15 Trooper John Barton HERON
70 Trooper James HIBBITT
71 Trooper [Corporal] William HODGSON
381 Trooper Thomas HOGAN
74 Trooper Andrew Gordon INGLIS (absent – not yet returned)
120 Trooper I. JOHNSON
28 Trooper Henry JORDAN
317 Trooper James KEILLEAR
??? Trooper LEE (no record found)
42 Trooper Herbert Hatherley LOOSEMORE (wounded, Belfast, 07/11/1900; not on published list but his plaque is extant)
77 Trooper John Wynnchester LOWE
122 Trooper Henry [Harry] Hamilton LYON
80 Trooper John William McGAHEY
126 Trooper Frank McILLROY
127 Trooper David M. McKIBBIN
46 Trooper John R. MIDDLETON
78 Trooper William MITCHELL
123 Trooper William J. MORRISON
124 Trooper William T. MORRISON
79 Trooper William B. MUIR
39 Trooper John James O’BRIEN
131 Trooper James POTTS
132 Trooper Albert M. RICHARDSON
188 Trooper Robert Sheriff ROBINSON
133 Trooper George SMITH
135 Trooper Richard William Edward SPICER (absent – not yet returned)
109 Trooper W.B. SPINK
88 Trooper Frederick THORNTON (dangerously wounded, Boschpoort, 23/09/1900)
137 Trooper William John TOWNLEY
89 Trooper John VINE (absent – not yet returned)
144 Trooper John Henry Trooper WALKER
32 Trooper Darrell Ince WARREN (absent – not yet returned)
91 Trooper Edward WAUDBY (subsequently 246 Pte E. Waudby, 2nd C.M.R.)
139 Trooper William James WHEATLEY
140 Trooper Frederick WYATT
141 Trooper David Douglas YOUNG
90 Trooper Andrew Henry VIZARD

“C” Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery (20 cups) –
Lieutenant Lewis Erskine Wentworth IRVING
Lieutenant William Parkyn MURRAY
137 Gunner George CHANDLER
132 Gunner Lorne CLARKSON
??? Gunner HEALEY (no record found)
111 Gunner Alexander Stewart JOHNSON
135 Gunner Walter McCOLLUM (wounded, Relief of Mafeking, 16/05/1900)
112 Gunner William J. MacDONALD (brother of below)
113 Gunner Francis Caren MacDONALD (brother of above)
133 Gunner George POWELL
126 Driver John Charles BOND (absent - joined Howard's Scouts)
108 Driver Leopold Brock FULLER
114 Driver Charles E. McEACHERN
130 Driver Henry RAYNOR
115 Driver George SCHELL
159 Driver John SHAW
118 Driver John William TIBBS
119 Driver Ernest Laurence TYNER
117 Driver George Robert SWEENY
131 Driver George Thomas WALLIS
120 Driver Arthur Henry WOOD







Toronto Star, 18th January 1901

LIST OF LUCKY ONES.

Returned Soldiers Who Will Receive Gifts From Toronto Ladies Tomorrow Night.

The returned soldiers of the second contingent, who are to receive testimonials from the ladies of Toronto tomorrow night, may secure the necessary cards of admission to the reception hall in this way: Members of the 9th Battery to apply to Major Myles, 47 Colborne Street; Governor-General’s Body Guard, to Captain Fleming, 29 East Front Street; Queen’s Own Rifles, Lieutenant-Colonel Delamere, Parliament Buildings; Royal Grenadiers, Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce, City Hall; 48th Highlanders, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonald, Confederation Life; Permanent Corps, Stanley Barracks.

It is optional for those attending the reception to wear evening dress.

Those entitled to the testimonials are: –

Royal Canadian Dragoons – Sergt.-Maj. WIDGERY, Sergts A. RHOADES, H.F. FULLER, George HUDSON, C.J. HENINGTON, STEER, L.A. TILL, MEDHURST, Quartermaster-Sergt. SIMKINS, Trumpeter SKINNER, Troopers ANDERSON, BEATON, BUTTERFIELD, CLARK, COOK, FITZGERALD, J. HIBBITT, KEEHLER [sic], J.W. LOWE, McGAHEY, MITCHELL, MUIR, RICHARDSON, THORNTON, WANBY [sic], WYATT, YOUNG, VIZARD, Corps. BALDWIN, BATES, HODGSON, TREMOUILLE [sic], LOVEGROVE.

Governor-General’s Body Guard – Troopers BAXTER, BROWN, BURNETT, CORDINGLEY, DAOUST [sic], JOHNSTON [sic], LYON, McKIBBON [sic], W.J. MORRISON, O’BRIEN, SMITH, WALKER, TOWNLEY, WHEATLEY.

[Others – ] BURCHARD [sic], BURITT, CHAMBERS, DUGUID, HARBOTTLE, HARMAN, HOGAN, Henry JORDAN, McILLROY, MIDDLETON, MORRISON, POTTS, ROBINSON, SPINK, LEE.

Artillery – Gunners HEALEY, JOHNSON, McCOLLUM, CHANDLER, MacDONALD, POWELL, CLARKSON; Drivers WOOD, WALLIS, SCHELL, TYNER, TIBBS, FULLER, McEACHREN [sic], SHAW, RAYNER [sic], HERON, SWEENEY [sic].

Not yet returned – Troopers BRAGG, DeLISLE, FARRELL, VINE, SPICER, WARREN, CALLAHAN, and INGLIS.

Miss G. Elmsley of 13 Elmsley Place will be pleased to be advised if any names have been omitted from this list.



Toronto Star, 21st January 1901

A ROYAL WELCOME TO MEN IN KHAKI

The Reception by the Ladies of Toronto a Brilliant Success.

SOUVENIRS FOR HEROES

The Premier and the Mayor Make Congratulatory Addresses to Them.

Beautifully decorated and brilliantly illuminated, the Parliament Buildings presented a scene on Saturday which has never been rivalled in the history of that stately pile. The Legislative Chamber was crowded, a large part of the audience being ladies in evening dress, while a guard of honour composed of detachments from the Royal Regiment of Canadian Infantry, the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and the Governor-General’s Body Guards lent dignity to the occasion.

The audience, which had gathered at the instigation of a committee of ladies to do honour to the men of the second contingent, cheered enthusiastically when the bronzed soldiers marched into the chamber and took their places between the rows of members’ desks. Special cheers were given for Lieutenant-Colonel Lessard as he presented Miss Mowat with a bouquet of roses on entering.

The attention centred about the dais, where Mrs G.R.R. Cockburn occupied the Speaker’s chair as convenor of the Ladies’ Committee, and with her on the platform were four other ladies of the committee. Mrs (Lt.-Col.) Charles Denison, Mrs (Lt.-Col.) Peters, Mrs Ross (wife of the Premier), and Mrs (Major) Myles. Before the dais was placed a table bearing the gifts that had been selected as souvenirs for the contingent.

A short program of music was rendered by the band of the Governor-General’s Body Guard, under the direction of Mr C.A. Welsman, when Mr G.R.R. Cockburn called upon the Mayor to welcome the members of the contingent, which His Worship did appropriately.

The musical program was rendered by Mlle. Toronta, Mrs Stewart Houston, Mr S. Wyly Grier, and Mr R. Drummond.

The presentation to the officers and men followed the program. Lt.-Col. Lessard was called upon first, and received at Miss Mowat’s hands a silver punch-bowl. In reply, Lt.-Col. Lessard said that the cordial receptions given the returning invalids, the first contingent, his own men, at Halifax, and again at Toronto, had been not only a welcome home, but a note expressing the loyalty of Canadians to the British flag, and support and sympathy to the Queen and the Empire. Speaking of his own regiment, he said that they had had their own share of losses, 5 officers dead and 5 others wounded, a casualty list of 10 out of 18. And at this point he desired to thank the Red Cross Society for a most acceptable gift of £400, and for cases of necessaries and comforts which came to hand from time to time, which greatly relieved the sufferings of the soldiers during their arduous campaign.

The other officers were called in the following order: Major Forrester, Major Hall, Captain Nelles, Lieut. Elmsley, R.C.D.; Lieut. Cockburn, Lieut. W. Parkyn Murray, Lieut. L.E.W. Irving, 9th Field Battery, Lt.-Col. Lessard taking charge of the cup for Lieut. Elmsley, who was too ill to return with the contingent.

Mr G.R.R. Cockburn, who acted as chairman, explained that the cups and the plaques for the men had not all been completed, but would be forwarded as soon as they came from the manufacturer.

Hon. G.W. Ross was the last speaker of the evening. The Premier congratulated the ladies on the successful issue of their idea, and said that the idea that lay at the back of the reception, in fact the idea that first prompted the sending of a contingent to South Africa at all, rather opened a new chapter in the history of Canada. Of several wars, which many of those present as well as himself could remember, Canada had taken only an outside interest, but had joined in the war to help secure the status of the Empire.

“After 150 years’ existence”, he continued, “we have become an integral and inseparable part of the British Empire, we are nearer to the Empire today that we have ever been before.
“In fighting for the Empire, Canada fought for her own interests, for Canada was nearer the heart of the Empire than ever before, and anything that would shatter the greatness or weaken the influence of the Empire would be much more serious for Canada.
“The men went because they could not stay at home; they had to go; there was something that impelled them to go. The Colonial Secretary said ‘We will receive 1,000 Canadian soldiers; have them ready in 30 days’. In 29 days they were aboard the transports”.

Mr Ross made a very gratifying reference to the four Canadians who had been mentioned as candidates for the honour of the Victoria Cross, and one of whom is the son of the convenor of the Ladies’ Committee.

Cheers for the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the second contingent called forth three hearty cheers for the Ladies’ Committee in response, after which the floor of the chamber presented an animated scene, when the Premier and the Ladies’ Committee personally congratulated the soldiers.






..

List now updated to include officers and those of the Governor-General's Body Guard who served with the Second Contingent (accidentally omitted).
I have also added some clarification regarding the distribution of the testimonials, as some received plaques while others were given cups.

Hi Neville......

Just a little info for you......

129 Sergeant Hammond, Dayton Brown, (KIA / “C” Battery / To Can. Scouts) Clasps: C.C. / Rhod. / TVL / OFS / S.A. 01
134 Sergeant McGreggor, Duncan John, (KIA / “C” Battery / To Can. Scouts) Clasps: C.C. / Rhod. / TVL / OFS / S.A. 01
155 Driver Turnbull, John, (“C” Battery) C.C. / Rhod. / TVL / OFS
114 Gunner Mc'Eachern, C. E., Charles, (“C” Battery), C.C. / Rhod. / TVL / OFS

Mike