Ridgeway Martyrs Tablet

Ridgeway, Ontario
Type
Other

A marble tablet was installed in People’s Memorial United Church in memory of the brave volunteers who fell at Lime Ridge on 2 June 1866 while defending the Niagara frontier against Fenians. The stanza inscribed on the tablet is from the poem 'Hallowed Ground' by Thomas Campbell. 

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.

Inscription

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE RIDGEWAY MARTYRS.
Who fell defending their country in the
attempted Fenian invasion
June 1866,
MALCOLM MCECHRON.
Ensign Queen's Own
Killed.

HUGH MATHESON.
Sergt, Queen's Own
Died of Wounds.
WILLIAM SMITH.
Queen's Own
Killed.
CHRIST PR ALDERSON.
Queen's Own
Killed.
I.H. NEWBURN.
Queen's Own
Killed.

FRANCIS LAKEY.
Corpl, Queen's Own
Died of Wounds.
MARK DEFRIES.
Queen's Own
Killed.
WN FAIRBANKS TEMPEST.
Queen's Own
Killed.
MALCOLM McKENZIE
Queen's Own
Killed.

Go strew his ashes to the wind
Whose sword or voice has served mankind
And is he dead whose glorious mind
Lifts thine on high
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die

Erected by the citizens in the vaiinity of the Battle around Sep'1874

Location
Ridgeway Martyrs Tablet

366 Ridge Road North
Ridgeway
Ontario
GPS Coordinates
Lat. 42.8847187
Long. -79.0520861

tablet

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archive
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