The Memorial
The concept of a memorial
The proposal that a lasting record of
the contributions of Law
Society members to the war effort ought to be preserved permanently
at Osgoode Hall was first raised at Convocation in September 1916. Several years later, in October 1922, Bencher Frederick Weir Harcourt raised the suggestion that a war memorial "to
commemorate those members of the Society who have made the Supreme Sacrifice
in the late war, be referred to a special committee" to be named
by the Treasurer.
Although Harcourt's motion carried, no committee was named until late
1924, by which time Harcourt himself was Treasurer. At its first meeting
in November 1924, the committee recommended "that a Memorial be erected,
either stained glass windows or a monument, the cost not to be more than
$15,000." By then, B. Holford Ardagh was Secretary of the Law Society, having succeeded Edwin Bell in 1922. Formerly Captain
of the Osgoode
Hall Rifle Association and having served four years in the
war himself, Major Ardagh worked hard to ensure that the war memorial
became a reality.
