Lime Ridge Monument honours the Toronto militia volunteers killed in the Battle of Ridgeway on 2 June 1866. The Toronto militia volunteers were fighting Irish-American Fenian insurgents who had invaded Canada near Fort Erie in the hopes of holding Canada ransom for Irish independence. Between 1866 and 1871, this group raided Canadian territory from New Brunswick to Manitoba. Nine riflemen from Toronto’s The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada were killed, including three University of Toronto students. The entire city shut down for the funeral procession to the Necropolis.
The monument was erected by the Canadian Volunteer Monument Campaign of 1866 Committee comprised of Toronto citizens and chairman, Dr. McCaul, President of the University. The Italian Renaissance style monument of sandstone and marble was sculpted by Robert Reid of Mayor & Co. of Montreal. It was unveiled on Dominion Day 1870.
Conservation work began in October of 2006. The center beehive-shaped core was rebuilt. The masonry was cleaned, marble statuary treated, stone delamination was repaired and the most deteriorated stone blocks were treated with a moisture-permeable consolidant. Work was completed in December of 2007.
Although located on the University of Toronto campus, the monument belongs to the City of Toronto.
Three of the men named on this memorial - Private Malcolm Mackenzie, Private William F. Tempest and Private John H Mewburn, all of No. 9 Company, are also commemorated on a stained glass window in University College.
