In 1790, Major Samuel Holland, then official general surveyor, had four meridian lines drawn on the Plains of Abraham. According to tradition, one of those lines marked the spot where Wolfe died. It is considered the first monument to Wolfe. In 1832, the Governor General of Canada, Lord Aylmer, acknowledging the deterioration of the meridian line, had it replaced by a truncated column bearing only the inscription “Here died Wolfe victorious – September XIII – MDCCLIX”. In 1849, the British army contingent based in Canada raised funds and had a new column erected, topped by a helmet and a sword. The first plaque dating from 1832 was kept and a second one was installed (“Ce monument fut érigé par l’armée britannique au Canada…”). The new monument was protected with an iron fence. The National Battlefields Commission had the column reproduced in 1913, keeping the top pieces and both inscriptions from the third monument. A third plaque was added describing the history of the four monument. The iron fence disappeared and was replaced with a stone surround. On March 29th, 1963, the monument was destroyed, probably by nationalists. The National Battlefields Commission erected a fifth one on July 5th, 1965. The commemorative plaques were installed later. Those plaques were engraved in both languages. They are the three existing plaques and a fourth one mentioning the erection of the fifth monument.