The Next of Kin Monument was unveiled and dedicated by members of the Soldiers’ Relatives Memorial Association of Winnipeg, on May 13, 1923. It is dedicated to the memory of 1,500 Canadian soldiers from Manitoba who lost their lives in the First World War.
Colonel J.N. Semmens of Winnipeg designed the monument and the soldier was made by Winnipeg artist Marguerite Taylor. The soldier’s rifle rests on its butt end on the ground. The soldier portrays the time peace was declared, when the victorious soldier threw his rifle into his left hand and triumphantly whirled his tin hat in the air. Marguerite wanted to portray a happy soldier so the bereaved wives and mothers would not be too saddened when they looked at it. She used a real soldier as her model for the statue which was cast in London. The Sergeant Major who posed for her was very proud of his boots and puttees which he had worn at Passchendaele.
On the sides of the monument are four bronze plates which were supplied by Henry Birks and Sons Limited of Winnipeg. At the top of the plaques, angels provide a canopy for the names of more than 1,500 soldiers.
