Vincent Meredith
Encyclopedia
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal (February 28, 1850 – February 24, 1929), was a Canadian banker and philanthropist
; President of the Bank of Montreal
, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
. His home, today known for his wife as Lady Meredith House, is a Montreal
landmark and part of McGill University
.
, the fifth son of John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
and Sarah Pegler. One of his great uncles, Boyle Meredith (1788–1873), married Eliza Gough Vincent (1797–1870), a cousin of Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
and a niece of General John Vincent. It was after her family that he was given his middle name, which he chose to use as his first. He was one of a group of brothers collectively referred to as The Eight London Merediths. They included Sir William Ralph Meredith
, Chief Justice Richard Martin Meredith
, Thomas Graves Meredith
and Charles Meredith. They were cousins of, and well known to The Rt. Hon. Richard Edmund Meredith
, Frederick Edmund Meredith
, William Archer Redmond and Judge James Creed Meredith
.
, Meredith joined the Bank of Montreal in 1867 as a clerk, and steadily rose through the ranks to become the first Canadian born president of the bank from 1913 to 1927. From his retirement until his death two years later, he served as Chairman of the Board. In Meredith's time, before the creation of the Bank of Canada
in 1934, the Bank of Montreal
acted as Canada's national bank, and Meredith successfully guided the nation's economy through the First World War. Along with his cousins, the brothers William Henry Meredith (1849–1895) and Frederick Edmund Meredith
, he was one of three Merediths to have attained high position within the bank. William Meredith was appointed a director in 1891, and served until his premature death in 1895. William's younger brother was appointed a director in 1923. As president, Sir Vincent's office was at the bank's headquarters at 119 St. James Street
in Montreal, Quebec. When he retired as president of the bank in 1927, The Banker, published in London
, England
, summed up the affect he had had on Canadian financial affairs during his time at the bank,
Amongst many other positions, Vincent Meredith was a member of the Montreal Board of Trade, a member of the Board of Directors
of Canadian Pacific Railway
, the Royal Exchange Assurance Co., of London, England, the Royal Trust Assurance Co., of Montreal (also serving as that company's President for a time), the Standard Life
Assurance Company of Edinburgh and Dominion Textile. He served as Governor of McGill University
, President of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
, and President of the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was created a hereditary Baronet
of the United Kingdom
by King George V
for his wartime services to the nation in 1916.
, as President of the Allan Line
and the Merchant's Bank etc., etc. This marriage brought Meredith additional wealth and powerful connections. As a wedding gift, his father-in-law gave him and his wife a parcel of land on the corner of Pine Avenue
and Peel Street, Montreal
, at the heart of the Golden Square Mile
, and just across from Ravenscrag (now the Allan Memorial Institute
), where Lady Meredith's cousin Sir H. Montagu Allan
was then living. In 1894, they employed the architect Edward Maxwell to build them a house there, "Ardvarna", a turreted, red brick mansion
, now known as Lady Meredith House. Maxwell had also previously designed their summer house at Mont Saint-Bruno
, Quebec. Lady Meredith House was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990.
Brenda Meredith donated the Lady Meredith Cup in 1920, the first ice hockey
trophy in Canada
to be competed for between women in ankle-length skirts. On the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Thistle Curling Club in 1943, the Montreal Gazette of the day reported that on Christmas Eve, 1870, she was "probably the first lady in Canada to put up an iron". She served as President of the Purple Cross (a service for the care of wounded and disabled horses on the battlefield during World War I
); President of the Canadian Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
; Governor of the Royal Victoria's Maternity Hospital; Director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
; Vice President of the Women’s National Immigration Society, and honorary patroness of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire
with Lady Eugène Fiset
and Lady H. Montagu Allan
. She was a member and benefactor of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal
, and was one of the founders of the Montreal Ladies Golf Club. Following the First World War, when wounded Canadian soldiers started to return from the Front in 1918, Lady Meredith set up a rehabilitation centre for them at her and Vincent's Montreal home.
They left no children, but along with Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
and George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
, Vincent Meredith was the godfather to Robert Henry Arthur Rivers-Bulkeley (1914–2007), son of Colonel Charles Rivers-Bulkeley and Annie Evelyn Pelly. Lady Meredith was the godmother of Frederick Edmund Meredith
's only grandson.
he served on its Board of Directors and was one of its chief benefactors. In 1909 he gave the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal (where he solely sponsored an annual ball for the nurses) an automobile, Canada's first motor ambulance, but as with all his gifts and donations, refused to allow anything of it to be mentioned in the papers. It was also his idea to bring the famous neuro-surgeon Wilder Penfield
to the Royal Victoria Hospital. At the Bank of Montreal he introduced the 'Sir Vincent Meredith Fund', which was set up for the female employees of the Bank to relieve them in a financial crisis, which is still in operation today. In his will he left just under six hundred thousand dollars to be shared between the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University
and Bishop's University
, Lennoxville. It was said that Sir Vincent took every opportunity to relieve suffering in Montreal and advance that city.
As well as giving financial backing and donations from his own art collection to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
, he also donated a set of four Louis Comfort Tiffany
windows to the Museum's new building. In sports, he donated the 'Sir Vincent Meredith Trophy' awarded to the best all-round athlete of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, as well as giving the Meredith Cup for the Waltzing Competition held at the Winter Club, and the Meredith Trophy awarded at the Dominion Drama Festival.
in Senneville, Quebec
, and they both imported many fine horses from Ireland
and England
. His youngest brother, Llewellyn Meredith (1860–1933) J.P., was a highly respected judge at the Olympia, London
Horse Show in England
, and also bred his own horses at his farm outside London, Ontario
. Sir Vincent was also a keen fisherman. Both he and Lady Meredith had a great interest in music and art and were one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Grand Opera
in Montreal
. He belonged to many clubs in Montreal and England, and he was amongst the founding members of the Mount Royal Club in Montreal, the Ritz-Carlton Montreal
Hotel and the Montreal Winter Club. The Montreal Gazette said of him :
Sir Vincent Meredith died in 1929 without children, and as such his short-lived Baronetcy became extinct. His wife continued to live in their Montreal home until 1941, when she gifted it to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal to use as a nurses residence. McGill University
acquired the use of the property in 1975, and today it is known as Lady Meredith House, home to the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics, and Law. He and his wife are buried in a plot reserved for the Meredith family at Mount Royal Cemetery
. Buried there also is one of his younger brothers, Charles Meredith, with his wife, a daughter of Richard B. Angus
, and his cousin, a close friend of both of the brothers', Frederick Edmund Meredith
. This generation of his family in Canada, and Ireland, were a remarkably distinguished group.
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
; President of the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a major museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1860, making it Canada's oldest art institution, it moved to its current location in 1912 thanks to a large donation from businessman James Ross....
. His home, today known for his wife as Lady Meredith House, is a Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
landmark and part of McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
.
Family
Henry Vincent Meredith was born in London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, the fifth son of John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith
John Walsingham Cooke Meredith J.P., an Anglo-Irish-Canadian office holder and businessman, best remembered as the father of the Eight London Merediths.-Background:...
and Sarah Pegler. One of his great uncles, Boyle Meredith (1788–1873), married Eliza Gough Vincent (1797–1870), a cousin of Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Field Marshal Sir Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCSI, KCB, PC , was an Irish British Army officer. He was said to have commanded in more general actions than any other British officer of the 19th century except the Duke of Wellington.- Early career :Born at Woodstown House, Co...
and a niece of General John Vincent. It was after her family that he was given his middle name, which he chose to use as his first. He was one of a group of brothers collectively referred to as The Eight London Merediths. They included Sir William Ralph Meredith
William Ralph Meredith
The Hon. Sir William Ralph Meredith, Q.C., LL.D. was Leader of the Ontario Conservatives from 1878 to 1894; Chancellor of the University of Toronto from 1900 until his death, and Chief Justice of Ontario from 1913 until his death...
, Chief Justice Richard Martin Meredith
Richard Martin Meredith
Chief Justice The Hon. Richard Martin Meredith Q.C. was a founder of The University of Western Ontario; vice-chancellor of Ontario; President of the High Court of the Supreme Court of Ontario and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.-Family:Born at 565 Talbot Street, London, Ontario, he was...
, Thomas Graves Meredith
Thomas Graves Meredith
Thomas Graves Meredith K.C. , Canadian lawyer and businessman; President of Canada Life Assurance and President of the Middlesex Bar Association...
and Charles Meredith. They were cousins of, and well known to The Rt. Hon. Richard Edmund Meredith
Richard Edmund Meredith
The Rt. Hon. Richard Edmund Meredith PC, QC , was the Master of the Rolls in Ireland, a Privy Councillor, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland and Judicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission.-Career:...
, Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
, William Archer Redmond and Judge James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith
James Creed Meredith K.C., LL.D. was an Irish nationalist of the early 20th century, who upheld Brehon Law. He was President of the Supreme Court of the Irish Republic, Chief Judicial Commissioner of Ireland and a Judge of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Ireland...
.
Bank of Montreal
Educated at Hellmuth Boys College, London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, Meredith joined the Bank of Montreal in 1867 as a clerk, and steadily rose through the ranks to become the first Canadian born president of the bank from 1913 to 1927. From his retirement until his death two years later, he served as Chairman of the Board. In Meredith's time, before the creation of the Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
in 1934, the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
acted as Canada's national bank, and Meredith successfully guided the nation's economy through the First World War. Along with his cousins, the brothers William Henry Meredith (1849–1895) and Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
, he was one of three Merediths to have attained high position within the bank. William Meredith was appointed a director in 1891, and served until his premature death in 1895. William's younger brother was appointed a director in 1923. As president, Sir Vincent's office was at the bank's headquarters at 119 St. James Street
Saint Jacques Street
Saint Jacques Street is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.The street has had two official names: St. James Street in English after St. James's, London; and its current appellation, rue Saint-Jacques, in French. Both names are sometimes used in English, though Saint-Jacques is the most...
in Montreal, Quebec. When he retired as president of the bank in 1927, The Banker, published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, summed up the affect he had had on Canadian financial affairs during his time at the bank,
Amongst many other positions, Vincent Meredith was a member of the Montreal Board of Trade, a member of the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, the Royal Exchange Assurance Co., of London, England, the Royal Trust Assurance Co., of Montreal (also serving as that company's President for a time), the Standard Life
Standard Life
Standard Life plc is a long term savings and investment business, with headquarters in Edinburgh and operations across the globe. It has 1.5 million shareholders in more than 50 countries and over 6 million customers.-History:...
Assurance Company of Edinburgh and Dominion Textile. He served as Governor of McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, President of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a major museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1860, making it Canada's oldest art institution, it moved to its current location in 1912 thanks to a large donation from businessman James Ross....
, and President of the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was created a hereditary Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
for his wartime services to the nation in 1916.
Lady Meredith
In 1888, Vincent Meredith married (Isabella) Brenda Allan (1867–1959), the youngest daughter of Andrew Allan (1822–1901), who succeeded his elder brother, Sir Hugh AllanHugh Allan
Sir Hugh Allan, KCMG was a Scottish-born Canadian shipping magnate, railway promoter, financier and capitalist...
, as President of the Allan Line
Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers
The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, running dry goods from Greenock to sell in Montreal and returning with Canadian produce to sell back in Scotland, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line...
and the Merchant's Bank etc., etc. This marriage brought Meredith additional wealth and powerful connections. As a wedding gift, his father-in-law gave him and his wife a parcel of land on the corner of Pine Avenue
Pine Avenue
Pine Avenue is an east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This street serves as the dividing line between the downtown Ville-Marie borough and borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal....
and Peel Street, Montreal
Peel Street, Montreal
Peel Street is a major north-south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Street links Pine Avenue, near Mount Royal, in the north and Smith Street, in the Southwest borough, in the south. The street's southern end is at the Peel Basin of the Lachine Canal...
, at the heart of the Golden Square Mile
Golden Square Mile
The Golden Square Mile was the name of a luxurious neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal in the west-central section of downtown Montreal, Canada...
, and just across from Ravenscrag (now the Allan Memorial Institute
Allan Memorial Institute
The Allan Memorial Institute , located in Montreal, Quebec, houses the Psychiatry Department of the Royal Victoria Hospital, part of the McGill University Health Centre. Although currently a respected psychiatric hospital, the institute is known for its role in the Project MKULTRA by the CIA...
), where Lady Meredith's cousin Sir H. Montagu Allan
H. Montagu Allan
Sir Hugh Andrew Montague Allan, CVO was a Canadian banker, ship owner, and a sportsman who donated the Allan Cup, the trophy symbolic of men's amateur ice hockey supremacy in Canada.-Early life:...
was then living. In 1894, they employed the architect Edward Maxwell to build them a house there, "Ardvarna", a turreted, red brick mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
, now known as Lady Meredith House. Maxwell had also previously designed their summer house at Mont Saint-Bruno
Mont Saint-Bruno
Mont Saint-Bruno is part of the Monteregian Hills in southern Quebec, Canada. Its summit stands high and lies east of downtown Montreal.This mountain has a ski resort, a natural area, and an apple orchard. Forests of beech, maple, oak, hickory, ironwood, hemlock and pine cover those slopes which...
, Quebec. Lady Meredith House was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990.
Brenda Meredith donated the Lady Meredith Cup in 1920, the first ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
trophy in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to be competed for between women in ankle-length skirts. On the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Thistle Curling Club in 1943, the Montreal Gazette of the day reported that on Christmas Eve, 1870, she was "probably the first lady in Canada to put up an iron". She served as President of the Purple Cross (a service for the care of wounded and disabled horses on the battlefield during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
); President of the Canadian Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps can refer to:* Women's Army Auxiliary Corps , a branch of the British military in the First World War* prior name of the Women's Army Corps, a branch of the U.S. military in World War II...
; Governor of the Royal Victoria's Maternity Hospital; Director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit animal welfare organization originally founded in England in 1824 to pass laws protecting carriage horses from abuse. SPCA groups are now found in many nations, where they campaign for animal welfare, assist in cruelty to animals...
; Vice President of the Women’s National Immigration Society, and honorary patroness of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire
Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire
The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. The club was originally titled the "Federation of Daughters of the British Empire", which was founded by Margaret Clark Murray in 1900...
with Lady Eugène Fiset
Eugène Fiset
Sir Marie-Joseph-Eugène Fiset, KCMG was a Canadian physician, military officer, Member of Parliament and the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec....
and Lady H. Montagu Allan
H. Montagu Allan
Sir Hugh Andrew Montague Allan, CVO was a Canadian banker, ship owner, and a sportsman who donated the Allan Cup, the trophy symbolic of men's amateur ice hockey supremacy in Canada.-Early life:...
. She was a member and benefactor of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal
Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal
The Church of Saint Andrew and St Paul is a Presbyterian church in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 3415 Redpath Street, on the corner of Sherbrooke Street...
, and was one of the founders of the Montreal Ladies Golf Club. Following the First World War, when wounded Canadian soldiers started to return from the Front in 1918, Lady Meredith set up a rehabilitation centre for them at her and Vincent's Montreal home.
They left no children, but along with Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the shared British and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha royal family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the 10th since Canadian Confederation.Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and...
and George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
, Vincent Meredith was the godfather to Robert Henry Arthur Rivers-Bulkeley (1914–2007), son of Colonel Charles Rivers-Bulkeley and Annie Evelyn Pelly. Lady Meredith was the godmother of Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
's only grandson.
Philanthrophy
Sir Vincent Meredith was a generous philanthropist. A founding member of the Canadian Mental Health AssociationCanadian Mental Health Association
The Canadian Mental Health Association was founded on January 26, 1918 by Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers. Originally named the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, it is one of the oldest voluntary health organizations still operating in Canada.Each year, CMHA divisions...
he served on its Board of Directors and was one of its chief benefactors. In 1909 he gave the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal (where he solely sponsored an annual ball for the nurses) an automobile, Canada's first motor ambulance, but as with all his gifts and donations, refused to allow anything of it to be mentioned in the papers. It was also his idea to bring the famous neuro-surgeon Wilder Penfield
Wilder Penfield
Wilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, CMG, FRS was an American born Canadian neurosurgeon. During his life he was called "the greatest living Canadian"...
to the Royal Victoria Hospital. At the Bank of Montreal he introduced the 'Sir Vincent Meredith Fund', which was set up for the female employees of the Bank to relieve them in a financial crisis, which is still in operation today. In his will he left just under six hundred thousand dollars to be shared between the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
and Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
, Lennoxville. It was said that Sir Vincent took every opportunity to relieve suffering in Montreal and advance that city.
As well as giving financial backing and donations from his own art collection to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a major museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1860, making it Canada's oldest art institution, it moved to its current location in 1912 thanks to a large donation from businessman James Ross....
, he also donated a set of four Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
windows to the Museum's new building. In sports, he donated the 'Sir Vincent Meredith Trophy' awarded to the best all-round athlete of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, as well as giving the Meredith Cup for the Waltzing Competition held at the Winter Club, and the Meredith Trophy awarded at the Dominion Drama Festival.
Private life
The Merediths shared a passion for horses, and were said to have had a fine eye for them. Vincent rode with the Montreal Hunt, played poloPolo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
in Senneville, Quebec
Senneville, Quebec
Senneville is a village on the western tip of the Island of Montreal. It is the wealthiest town on the West Island, closely followed by Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Baie D'Urfé...
, and they both imported many fine horses from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His youngest brother, Llewellyn Meredith (1860–1933) J.P., was a highly respected judge at the Olympia, London
Olympia, London
Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...
Horse Show in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and also bred his own horses at his farm outside London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
. Sir Vincent was also a keen fisherman. Both he and Lady Meredith had a great interest in music and art and were one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Grand Opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. He belonged to many clubs in Montreal and England, and he was amongst the founding members of the Mount Royal Club in Montreal, the Ritz-Carlton Montreal
Ritz-Carlton Montreal
The Ritz-Carlton Montréal is a 229 room luxury hotel situated at 1228 Sherbrooke Street West in Montréal, Quebec. This Montreal property is not part of the widely-known Ritz-Carlton hotel chain. It has forty-eight suites including a "Royal Suite" and a "Presidential Suite"...
Hotel and the Montreal Winter Club. The Montreal Gazette said of him :
Sir Vincent Meredith died in 1929 without children, and as such his short-lived Baronetcy became extinct. His wife continued to live in their Montreal home until 1941, when she gifted it to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal to use as a nurses residence. McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
acquired the use of the property in 1975, and today it is known as Lady Meredith House, home to the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics, and Law. He and his wife are buried in a plot reserved for the Meredith family at Mount Royal Cemetery
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The burial ground shares the mountain with the much larger adjacent Roman Catholic cemetery -- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges...
. Buried there also is one of his younger brothers, Charles Meredith, with his wife, a daughter of Richard B. Angus
Richard B. Angus
Richard Bladworth Angus was a Scottish-Canadian financier, banker and philanthropist.- Early life :Angus was born at Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland. Educated at Bathgate Academy, as a young man he was employed by the Manchester and Liverpool Bank. By 1857 he had secured a position with the Bank...
, and his cousin, a close friend of both of the brothers', Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
. This generation of his family in Canada, and Ireland, were a remarkably distinguished group.
Articles
- Premier Taschereau Pays Meredith Tribute, Montreal Gazette, February 26, 1929
- Obituary of Sir Vincent Meredith, Montreal Gazette, February 25, 1929
- Bank of Montreal Official Changes - Mr H.V. Meredith the New President and His Record, Montreal Gazette, November 3, 1913
- Sir V. Meredith, Bt. Makes 7 Bequests Totalling $575,000 Montreal Gazette, March 19, 1929
- Popular Doorman Died of Pneumonia Montreal Gazette, October 26, 1928
- Seeing God The Banker Worth 35 Bucks to Him, Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1953
- Fashionable Wedding at St. Pauls, Montreal Herald, November, 16, 1888
External links
- The Sir Vincent Meredith Fund
- Biography in Quebec History
- Old Montreal, Government website - Vincent Meredith
- McGill University
Photographs
- Members of Vincent's family outside his childhood home on Talbot Street, London
- A portrait of Meredith's grandmother, Magdalene (Redmond) Meredith (1785-1851)
- Mrs Meredith's childhood home, 'Ioneteh' on Peel Street, Montreal
- A young Mrs Meredith next to her father at home in 1871
- The Merediths with their tandem outside the McGill gates, 1889
- Vincent and Brenda Meredith with Annie and Osla Clouston, Senneville, 1901
- Osla Clouston and Brenda Meredith, Senneville, 1901
- Sir Vincent and Lady Meredith with Sir Edward Clouston, General Manager of the Bank of Montreal
- Commemorative Plaque celebrating 100 years of the Bank of Montreal
- Canadian bank note depicting Vincent Meredith
- Sir Vincent (far left), Sir Thomas White, J. W. McConnell, Mayor Martin & C.C. Ballantyne. Victory Loan Parade, Montreal, 1918
- Sir Vincent and Lady Meredith aboard the Mauretania, c.1920
- Portrait of Sir Vincent Meredith by Alphonse Jongers, 1924
- The Merediths home on Pine Avenue before it's extension, 1906
- Mrs Meredith in her drive with a pair-in-hand, 1911
- Lady Meredith and friends on a sleigh, c.1920
- Mrs Meredith's Rolls Royce, 1912
