Frederick Edmund Meredith
Encyclopedia
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L.
(January 16, 1862 – September 23, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor
of Bishop's University
, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias
for three of their Stanley Cup
championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR
at the inquest into the sinking of RMS Empress of Ireland
.
, January 16, 1862. F.E. Meredith was the youngest son of Chief Justice The Hon. Sir William Collis Meredith
of Quebec
and his wife Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898), granddaughter of William Holmes (1762–1834) of Quebec. He was a cousin of James Creed Meredith
and the godson of his uncle Edmund Allen Meredith
and his father's cousin, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell
. Another of his father's cousins was John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
, the father of the Eight London Merediths who included amongst them Sir Vincent Meredith
and Charles Meredith, who were both close friends and business associates of his in Montreal
.
before being sent to France
and then returning to Canada
to read law at Bishop's University
, Lennoxville (B.A., M.A.), and Université Laval
(LL.B., LL.L., LL.M., LL.D.). He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1884, commencing his career as a corporation barrister in the firm of Abbott & Badgley at Montreal
.
In 1898, Meredith and his two closest friends from Laval, Charles Sandwith Campbell
and James Bryce Allan (1861–1945) K.C., a brother of his cousins wife, Lady Vincent Meredith
, took over from the ageing Sir John Abbott
and William Badgley
to become the firm's new senior partners. Since the departure of his father from Montreal
to Quebec City
in 1849, the law firm of Abbott
(who had articled under his father) and Badgley
had become the most influential in the city, which was then the financial capital of Canada. The firm's major clients included Canadian Pacific Railway
, the Bank of Montreal
, the Hudson's Bay Company
, the Allan Line, the Bank of British North America
, Molson Bank
and Hugh Allan
's Merchant's Bank. Campbell, Meredith & Allan continued the firm's dominance, acting as lawyers to the majority of the residents of the Golden Square Mile
, the holders of 70% of Canada's wealth in 1900. Today the firm is known as Borden Ladner Gervais
.
Created a Queen's Counsel
in 1899, Meredith became Syndic
of the Bar of Montreal
in 1904/05, Councillor and Trustee of the Montreal Bar Association, and in May 1906 he was a delegate of the Montreal Bar to the General Council of the Province, along with another close friend, Aime Geoffrion. In 1907 he was elected Bâtonnier
of the Bar of Montreal, and in an address in this capacity before the Empire Club of Canada
, he stressed the need for more justices in the Superior Court
and declared his opposition to the proposed abolition of the Admiralty Court
. He was the Solicitor to the Shipping Federation of Canada in the early 1900s, and represented his client company, the CPR
, as their Chief Consul at the investigation into the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland
, presided over by Lord Mersey
). Privy Council
cases took him often to England
, and he twice turned down offers to become a judge
, preferring to maintain the business connections he held with many of his client companies.
His personal popularity, derived from graciousness of manner and sincerity of feeling, coupled with his intimate association with many of Canada's larger business concerns made him a desirable addition to the boards of a number of the country’s foremost corporations. These included: the Bank of Montreal
, the Royal Trust Company (since 1993 part of the Royal Bank of Canada
), Canadian Pacific Railway
, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Standard Life
of Edinburgh
, The National Steel Car Corporation, Canadian Cottons Ltd., National Liverpool Insurance Company (England
), Montreal & General Investor Ltd., The Banker's Trust Company and the Liverpool, London & Globe Insurance Company in England. When the National City Company of New York
had a subsidiary in Montreal
he was chosen as a member of the advisory board of that concern.
. Elected in 1926, he served as the eighth chancellor of Bishop's until 1932. In his obituary, Principal Arthur McGreer stated that all the substantial financial gifts from 1924 onwards had in some cases been entirely, and in most cases largely, due to Meredith. The F.E. Meredith Prize at Bishop’s was endowed after his death by his son, W.C.J. Meredith
, awarded annually to the student with the best written English who had graduated from an English course. Fred Meredith also donated the Meredith Cup there, which is competed for annually amongst the golfers of the college.
In 1904, Université Laval
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law
(D.C.L.) honoris causa. To commemorate the event, Meredith instituted a scholarship payable each year to the graduating student of the law faculty who obtained the highest marks. He and his two former partners, Charles Sandwith Campbell
and James Bryce Allan, also endowed the Prix Jette, awarded annually to the best student in civil law at their shared alma mata, Université Laval
.
and Bencher
of the Law Society of Upper Canada
, and a grand-daughter of Philip VanKoughnet
. Her father practised law with his brother, Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet
, later Chancellor of Upper Canada
, and together they acquired the largest legal practice in Upper Canada
. Mrs Meredith's mother, Elizabeth Hagerman Macaulay (1826–1899), was a daughter of barrister George Macaulay (1796–1828), and a niece of John Simcoe Macaulay
, Sir James Buchanan Macaulay
, Christopher Alexander Hagerman
and John Solomon Cartwright
. Mrs Meredith, a cousin of David Ross McCord
, was the widow of the ‘extremely philanthropic’ Francis Wolferstan Thomas
, by whom she had three children.
Meredith and his wife ‘mutually consented to separate’ in 1913, leaving one son, William Campbell James Meredith
. William Meredith was the special federal prosecutor at the trial of Fred Rose
, becoming the Dean of Law at McGill University
where the Meredith Lectures are held every two years in his memory. He married a daughter of Louis de Lotbiniere-Harwood
of Vaudreuil
and Montreal
.
Mrs Meredith had served with Lady Vincent Meredith
as a Governor of the Montreal Maternity Hospital. When she separated from her husband in 1913, she moved to England
, living in Knightsbridge
, London
. During World War I
she served with the Canadian Red Cross
at the Moor Park Convalescent Home for Canadian Officers, in Devon
. In 1942, Mrs Meredith went to stay with her daughter Shearme and her husband, Colonel Philips, at their home Abbey Cwmhir Hall
. During her stay she fell ill and three years later she died there, July 27, 1945. A funeral service was held for her at Penybont
, where there is a bench in the churchyard to her memory. She was survived by her four children and two of her sisters, Mrs Frank Wolf May of Montreal
, and Lady Casimir Cartwright van Straubenzee
of London
.
, and after he stopped playing he was the honorary president of the Montreal Victorias
when they won the Stanley Cup
in 1895, 1896 and 1897. He later sponsored a team for the office boys in his firm. He took flying lessons in Winnipeg
, and rode to hounds with his relatives in Montreal
, England
and Ireland
, as well as racing with the old Montreal Jockey Club. He greatly enjoyed the theatre
and was Chairman of the Montreal Shakespeare Club and a generous donator to the Montreal Repertory Theatre, started by the daughter of his close friend, Sir H. Montagu Allan
.
He was a noted rackets player (his brother, Edward, and brother-in-law, Harry Stanley Smith, were co-owners of the Quebec Rackets Club) and a Dominion
finalist on one occasion. He frequently represented Canada
in competitions against the United States
and in 1897 won the championship of the Montreal Rackets Club, and was the runner-up in 1898. At university he developed a keen interest in photography, and at one stage even considered an apprenticeship with William Notman
. He enjoyed fishing and shooting, and played croquet, golf and tennis, playing the latter into his late seventies, notably as one of the group of John Wilson McConnell
, at his indoor court, the only one then in Montreal.
He was also an extremely sociable man, and amongst the many clubs he belonged to in Montreal
he served as President of three of them; the Mount Royal Club, the Montreal Racquet Club and the University Club. In England
he belonged to the St. James', Travellers, Marlborough and British Empire clubs.
especially recalled the generosity of F.E. Meredith, the man he called a grand old dandy
. Dr Horst Oertel, Chief Pathologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, wrote An Appreciation of his friend that was published in The Times
of London
in 1941,
Meredith died shortly before his eightieth birthday (‘birthdays are not the kind of thing one wants to commemorate’ he once said), after an illness of several weeks. He died at his home on Pine Avenue shortly after eleven o’clock of that morning, predominantly of old age. Meredith's funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Montreal
, and out of respect the practice division of the courts were closed for the day. He was buried in the Meredith plot at Mount Royal Cemetery
, Montreal, next to his cousins, Sir Vincent Meredith
and Charles Meredith, and their respective wives.
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
(January 16, 1862 – September 23, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias
Montreal Victorias
The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...
for three of their Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR
Canadian Pacific Limited
Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
at the inquest into the sinking of RMS Empress of Ireland
RMS Empress of Ireland
RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships...
.
Background
Born at Quebec CityQuebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, January 16, 1862. F.E. Meredith was the youngest son of Chief Justice The Hon. Sir William Collis Meredith
William Collis Meredith
The Hon. Sir William Collis Meredith, Kt., Q.C., D.C.L. was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec.-Early life:...
of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and his wife Sophia Naters Holmes (1820–1898), granddaughter of William Holmes (1762–1834) of Quebec. He was a cousin of James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith K.C., LL.D. was an Irish nationalist of the early 20th century, who upheld Brehon Law. He was President of the Supreme Court of the Irish Republic, Chief Judicial Commissioner of Ireland and a Judge of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Ireland...
and the godson of his uncle Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith
Edmund Allen Meredith LL.D., was Under Secretary of State for Canada; a prison reformer, writer, and the third principal of McGill University from 1846 to 1853.-Early life in Ireland:...
and his father's cousin, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell
Richard Graves MacDonnell
Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell KCMG CB was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor...
. Another of his father's cousins was John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith J.P., an Anglo-Irish-Canadian office holder and businessman, best remembered as the father of the Eight London Merediths.-Background:...
, the father of the Eight London Merediths who included amongst them Sir Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
and Charles Meredith, who were both close friends and business associates of his in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Career
Meredith educated at Bishop's College SchoolBishop's College School
This article is about the school in Canada. Alternatively, visit Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa.Bishop's College School is a private school in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada....
before being sent to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and then returning to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to read law at Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
, Lennoxville (B.A., M.A.), and Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
(LL.B., LL.L., LL.M., LL.D.). He was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1884, commencing his career as a corporation barrister in the firm of Abbott & Badgley at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
In 1898, Meredith and his two closest friends from Laval, Charles Sandwith Campbell
Charles Sandwith Campbell
Charles Sandwith Campbell K.C., LL.D. was a benefactor who gave the City of Montreal the Campbell Concerts and Campbell Parks. He was a Governor of McGill University.- Biography :...
and James Bryce Allan (1861–1945) K.C., a brother of his cousins wife, Lady Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
, took over from the ageing Sir John Abbott
John Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
and William Badgley
William Badgley
William Badgley was born in Lower Canada, educated there, and admitted to the Lower Canadian bar in 1823. He became a judge and attorney general for Canada East....
to become the firm's new senior partners. Since the departure of his father from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1849, the law firm of Abbott
John Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
(who had articled under his father) and Badgley
William Badgley
William Badgley was born in Lower Canada, educated there, and admitted to the Lower Canadian bar in 1823. He became a judge and attorney general for Canada East....
had become the most influential in the city, which was then the financial capital of Canada. The firm's major clients included Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
, the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, the Allan Line, the Bank of British North America
Bank of British North America
The Bank of British North America was founded in 1835 in London, England with offices in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, New Brunswick, Halifax and St. John's, Newfoundland. It also operated agencies in New York City and San Francisco. Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued...
, Molson Bank
Molson Bank
The Molson Bank was a Canadian bank founded in Montreal, Quebec, by brothers William and John Molson, Jr...
and Hugh Allan
Hugh Allan
Sir Hugh Allan, KCMG was a Scottish-born Canadian shipping magnate, railway promoter, financier and capitalist...
's Merchant's Bank. Campbell, Meredith & Allan continued the firm's dominance, acting as lawyers to the majority of the residents of the Golden Square Mile
Golden Square Mile
The Golden Square Mile was the name of a luxurious neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal in the west-central section of downtown Montreal, Canada...
, the holders of 70% of Canada's wealth in 1900. Today the firm is known as Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is the largest full-service Canadian law firm. The Firm has over 750 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals in offices in Calgary, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo Region...
.
Created a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1899, Meredith became Syndic
Syndic
Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...
of the Bar of Montreal
Bar of Montreal
The Bar of Montreal is the bar association for lawyers in the city of Montreal, Canada. . It has it beginnings in 1693 when, as a Royal Province of the French colonial empire, Canadien lawyers first tried to obtain official recognition but were refused by Governor General of New France Louis de...
in 1904/05, Councillor and Trustee of the Montreal Bar Association, and in May 1906 he was a delegate of the Montreal Bar to the General Council of the Province, along with another close friend, Aime Geoffrion. In 1907 he was elected Bâtonnier
Bâtonnier
In France, the bâtonnier is the primus inter pares among the lawyers of a bar....
of the Bar of Montreal, and in an address in this capacity before the Empire Club of Canada
Empire Club of Canada
The Empire Club of Canada is a Canadian speakers' forum. Established in 1903, the Empire Club has provided a forum for over 3,500 speakers.Through a variety of presentation formats, the Empire Club invites local, national and international leaders and other change-agents to address the topical...
, he stressed the need for more justices in the Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
and declared his opposition to the proposed abolition of the Admiralty Court
Admiralty court
Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
. He was the Solicitor to the Shipping Federation of Canada in the early 1900s, and represented his client company, the CPR
Canadian Pacific Limited
Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
, as their Chief Consul at the investigation into the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland
RMS Empress of Ireland
RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships...
, presided over by Lord Mersey
John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey was a British jurist and politician. After early success as a lawyer, and a less successful spell as a politician, he was appointed a judge, working in commercial law....
). Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
cases took him often to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and he twice turned down offers to become a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, preferring to maintain the business connections he held with many of his client companies.
His personal popularity, derived from graciousness of manner and sincerity of feeling, coupled with his intimate association with many of Canada's larger business concerns made him a desirable addition to the boards of a number of the country’s foremost corporations. These included: the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
, the Royal Trust Company (since 1993 part of the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
), Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Standard Life
Standard Life
Standard Life plc is a long term savings and investment business, with headquarters in Edinburgh and operations across the globe. It has 1.5 million shareholders in more than 50 countries and over 6 million customers.-History:...
of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, The National Steel Car Corporation, Canadian Cottons Ltd., National Liverpool Insurance Company (England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
), Montreal & General Investor Ltd., The Banker's Trust Company and the Liverpool, London & Globe Insurance Company in England. When the National City Company of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
had a subsidiary in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
he was chosen as a member of the advisory board of that concern.
Bishop's and Université Laval
His interest in various educational and cultural undertakings was well known, particularly in the progress and welfare of Bishops University, where he led the successful financial campaign of 1924. His interest in the university had never faded since he himself had graduated from there in 1883. As an advocate to many of the country's largest corporations, along with his family connections and strength of character, Meredith wielded a very considerable influence in QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Elected in 1926, he served as the eighth chancellor of Bishop's until 1932. In his obituary, Principal Arthur McGreer stated that all the substantial financial gifts from 1924 onwards had in some cases been entirely, and in most cases largely, due to Meredith. The F.E. Meredith Prize at Bishop’s was endowed after his death by his son, W.C.J. Meredith
William Campbell James Meredith
William Campbell James Meredith Q.C., D.C.L., often known as W. C. J. Meredith, was a Canadian attorney and Dean of Law at McGill University. He was born in Montreal, Quebec the son of Frederick Edmund Meredith and Anne Madeline VanKoughnet Meredith...
, awarded annually to the student with the best written English who had graduated from an English course. Fred Meredith also donated the Meredith Cup there, which is competed for annually amongst the golfers of the college.
In 1904, Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
(D.C.L.) honoris causa. To commemorate the event, Meredith instituted a scholarship payable each year to the graduating student of the law faculty who obtained the highest marks. He and his two former partners, Charles Sandwith Campbell
Charles Sandwith Campbell
Charles Sandwith Campbell K.C., LL.D. was a benefactor who gave the City of Montreal the Campbell Concerts and Campbell Parks. He was a Governor of McGill University.- Biography :...
and James Bryce Allan, also endowed the Prix Jette, awarded annually to the best student in civil law at their shared alma mata, Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
.
Family
In 1903, Meredith married Anne Madeleine (1863–1945), daughter of Mathew Robert VanKoughnet (1824–1874) of Cornwall and Toronto, BarristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and Bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
of the Law Society of Upper Canada
Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
, and a grand-daughter of Philip VanKoughnet
Philip VanKoughnet
Colonel The Hon. Philip VanKoughnet M.P. landowner, businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.- History of the name :...
. Her father practised law with his brother, Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet
Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet
The Hon. Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet , President of the Executive Council of the Province of Canada, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands and Chancellor of Upper Canada.-Early life:...
, later Chancellor of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, and together they acquired the largest legal practice in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. Mrs Meredith's mother, Elizabeth Hagerman Macaulay (1826–1899), was a daughter of barrister George Macaulay (1796–1828), and a niece of John Simcoe Macaulay
John Simcoe Macaulay
Colonel The Hon. John Simcoe Macaulay was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. In 1845, he donated the land on which the Church of the Holy Trinity was built.-Early Life:...
, Sir James Buchanan Macaulay
James Buchanan Macaulay
Colonel Sir James Buchannan Macaulay, CB was a Canadian lawyer and judge.Macaulay, born at Newark, Upper Canada, 3 December 1793, was the second son of James Macaulay by his wife Elizabeth Tuck Hayter...
, Christopher Alexander Hagerman
Christopher Alexander Hagerman
Lt.-Col The Hon. Christopher Alexander Hagerman was a Canadian militia officer, politician, and judge.Known as 'Handsome Kit', he was born at the Bay of Quinte, Adolphustown, the son of United Empire Loyalist Major Nicholas Hagerman J.P., and his wife Anne , sister of Judge Alexander Fisher M.P.,...
and John Solomon Cartwright
John Solomon Cartwright
Lt.-Col. The Hon. John Solomon Cartwright QC was a businessman, lawyer, judge, farmer and political figure....
. Mrs Meredith, a cousin of David Ross McCord
David Ross McCord
David Ross McCord was a Canadian lawyer and philanthropic founder of the McCord Museum in Montreal, Canada....
, was the widow of the ‘extremely philanthropic’ Francis Wolferstan Thomas
Francis Wolferstan Thomas
Francis Wolferstan Thomas , General Manager of the Molson's Bank, and a philanthropist of Montreal.-Boyhood in England:Born January 9, 1834, at Morwenstow, Cornwall, the son of the Rev...
, by whom she had three children.
Meredith and his wife ‘mutually consented to separate’ in 1913, leaving one son, William Campbell James Meredith
William Campbell James Meredith
William Campbell James Meredith Q.C., D.C.L., often known as W. C. J. Meredith, was a Canadian attorney and Dean of Law at McGill University. He was born in Montreal, Quebec the son of Frederick Edmund Meredith and Anne Madeline VanKoughnet Meredith...
. William Meredith was the special federal prosecutor at the trial of Fred Rose
Fred Rose (politician)
Fred Rose was a Communist politician and trade union organizer in Canada. He was born in Lublin in what is now Poland, part of Russia at the time. He emigrated to Canada as a child in 1916. He became involved with the Young Communist League of Canada, and then joined the Communist Party of Canada...
, becoming the Dean of Law at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
where the Meredith Lectures are held every two years in his memory. He married a daughter of Louis de Lotbiniere-Harwood
Louis de Lotbiniere-Harwood
Louis de Lotbiniere-Harwood M.D., Canadian gynaecologist, Dean of Medicine at Laval University, President of the Medical Union of Canada, President of the Notre Dame Hospital and an Officier de Le Légion d'honneur.-Early life:...
of Vaudreuil
Vaudreuil
-Places:Canada* Vaudreuil-Dorion, a city located west of Montreal, Quebec* Terrasse-Vaudreuil, Quebec, a small Quebec municipality located near Montreal* Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, Quebec...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Mrs Meredith had served with Lady Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
as a Governor of the Montreal Maternity Hospital. When she separated from her husband in 1913, she moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, living in Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
she served with the Canadian Red Cross
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a Canadian humanitarian charitable organization and one of 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies....
at the Moor Park Convalescent Home for Canadian Officers, in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. In 1942, Mrs Meredith went to stay with her daughter Shearme and her husband, Colonel Philips, at their home Abbey Cwmhir Hall
Abbey Cwmhir Hall
Abbey-Cwm-Hir Hall is a neo-Elizabethan country house in the Welsh county of Powys. It was built in 1833 for Thomas Wilson on the site of a house built c.1656 for the Fowler family, which was later owned by the Hastings family, Earls of Huntingdon...
. During her stay she fell ill and three years later she died there, July 27, 1945. A funeral service was held for her at Penybont
Penybont
Penybont is a small village in Powys, Wales.- Location :It is located to the east of Crossgates, and to the north-east of Llandrindod Wells. The A44 runs east-west through the village, and the A488, which starts in Penybont, runs north to Knighton and Shrewsbury...
, where there is a bench in the churchyard to her memory. She was survived by her four children and two of her sisters, Mrs Frank Wolf May of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and Lady Casimir Cartwright van Straubenzee
Casimir Cartwright van Straubenzee
Major-General Sir Casimir Cartwright van Straubenzee KBE CB CMG , was a British soldier of the Royal Engineers.-Education and career:...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Personal life
Meredith had been a noted sportsman. As a young man he played ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, and after he stopped playing he was the honorary president of the Montreal Victorias
Montreal Victorias
The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...
when they won the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
in 1895, 1896 and 1897. He later sponsored a team for the office boys in his firm. He took flying lessons in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, and rode to hounds with his relatives in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, as well as racing with the old Montreal Jockey Club. He greatly enjoyed the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and was Chairman of the Montreal Shakespeare Club and a generous donator to the Montreal Repertory Theatre, started by the daughter of his close friend, Sir H. Montagu Allan
H. Montagu Allan
Sir Hugh Andrew Montague Allan, CVO was a Canadian banker, ship owner, and a sportsman who donated the Allan Cup, the trophy symbolic of men's amateur ice hockey supremacy in Canada.-Early life:...
.
He was a noted rackets player (his brother, Edward, and brother-in-law, Harry Stanley Smith, were co-owners of the Quebec Rackets Club) and a Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
finalist on one occasion. He frequently represented Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in competitions against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in 1897 won the championship of the Montreal Rackets Club, and was the runner-up in 1898. At university he developed a keen interest in photography, and at one stage even considered an apprenticeship with William Notman
William Notman
William Notman was a Canadian photographer and businessman.Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. William Notman moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on...
. He enjoyed fishing and shooting, and played croquet, golf and tennis, playing the latter into his late seventies, notably as one of the group of John Wilson McConnell
John Wilson McConnell
John Wilson McConnell was a Canadian businessman, newspaper publisher, humanitarian, and the most significant philanthropist in the history of the province of Quebec, Canada.-Early life:...
, at his indoor court, the only one then in Montreal.
He was also an extremely sociable man, and amongst the many clubs he belonged to in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
he served as President of three of them; the Mount Royal Club, the Montreal Racquet Club and the University Club. In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
he belonged to the St. James', Travellers, Marlborough and British Empire clubs.
Obituaries
F.E. Meredith was well remembered for his dry sense of humour and was frequently described as the most colourful and prominent figure on the Montreal Bar and one of the most eminent personalities not only in the Quebec Bar but in the whole of Canada (La Revue du Barreau, 1941). Arnold HeeneyArnold Heeney
Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney, was a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and civil servant.He was born in Montreal, Quebec. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921 and a Master of Arts degree in 1923 from the University of Manitoba. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar...
especially recalled the generosity of F.E. Meredith, the man he called a grand old dandy
Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
. Dr Horst Oertel, Chief Pathologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, wrote An Appreciation of his friend that was published in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1941,
Meredith died shortly before his eightieth birthday (‘birthdays are not the kind of thing one wants to commemorate’ he once said), after an illness of several weeks. He died at his home on Pine Avenue shortly after eleven o’clock of that morning, predominantly of old age. Meredith's funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and out of respect the practice division of the courts were closed for the day. He was buried in the Meredith plot at Mount Royal Cemetery
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The burial ground shares the mountain with the much larger adjacent Roman Catholic cemetery -- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges...
, Montreal, next to his cousins, Sir Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
and Charles Meredith, and their respective wives.
External Links
Associated Articles
- Bishop's Convocation Speeches, Montreal Gazette, May 21, 1929
- Bishop's College Closing Ceremony is Notable Event, Montreal Gazette, June 17, 1932
- Hundreds at Rites for F.E. Meredith, Montreal Gazette, September 26, 1941
- Seeing God The Banker Worth 35 Bucks to Him, Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1953
- Mr Corderre is Again Syndic, 1908
- English-Canadian Leadership Has Faded Since '50s, Montreal Gazette, April 1, 1976
- The Libel Suit of George of Wales Comes to Trial: Eminent Counsel Engaged in the Effort to Punish the Montreal Correspondent who sent out Dispatches about the Prince (1891)
- Jockey Club Bill, 1909
- Honored by Bishop's University, Montreal Gazette, June 21, 1930
- Female Heroism, The Quebec Daily Telegraph, August 29, 1885
- Accident to Quebecers - Two of Sir Wm. Meredith's Sons Injured By A Runaway, The Quebec Saturday Budget, August 28, 1886
- McGill University Archives, Montreal
Photographs
- F.E. Meredith presents Mayor Médéric Martin of Montreal with a key to one of the new Campbell Parks, 1926
- F.E. Meredith (1862-1941), 1894
- One of Meredith's early photographs, showing his father at his desk at home, c.1890
- Meredith in fancy dress for the Castanet Club Ball, 1886
- Frederick E. Meredith dressed as Napoleon, 1897
- Portrait of Frederick Edmund Meredith, Chancellor of Bishop's University
- Meredith (centre right) with the Stanley Cup winning Montreal Victorias, 1894-95
- Meredith (centre right) with the Stanley Cup winning Montreal Victorias, 1895-96
- Meredith (seated centre) with the Stanley Cup winning Montreal Victorias, 1896-97
- Meredith, Batonnier of the Montreal Bar, 1907
