Beechwood Cemetery

Beechwood Cemetery is the national cemetery of Canada, located in Vanier, Ottawa, Ontario. A woodland cemetery founded in 1873, it is 64.7 hectares (160 acres) and is the largest cemetery in the city of Ottawa. Over 82,000 Canadians from all walks of life are buried in the cemetery, including Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn, Prime Minister Robert Borden, and several members of Parliament, premiers, Canadian Armed Forces personnel and veterans, Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel, Canadian Security Intelligence Service intelligence officers, and Hockey Hall of Famers, alongside other notable Canadians. In addition to being Canada's national cemetery, it is also the national military cemetery of Canada and the national memorial cemetery of the RCMP.[1]

For other uses, see Beechwood Cemetery (disambiguation).

Beechwood Cemetery
Cross of Sacrifice erected in honour and memory of all war veterans in 1959
Location280 Beechwood Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K1L 8A6
Area64.7 hectares (160 acres)
ArchitectMoses Chamberlain Edey; Robertson Martin Architects
Architectural style(s)Neo-Gothic
Governing bodyThe Beechwood Cemetery Foundation; The Beechwood Cemetery Company
WebsiteBeechwood Cemetery website
Designated2001

Honours and designations

Beechwood has received various honours and designations because it is recognized as an example of 19th-century rural cemeteries and as a place of national significance and importance as a depository of Canadian history. It was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001. The cemetery has served as the National Military Cemetery of Canada since 2001[1] and has served since 2004 as the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery.[2] Governor General Michaëlle Jean opened the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on 7 April 2008.[3] In 2017, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's National Memorial Cemetery was established at Beechwood.[4]

Pipe Major Sergeant Tom Brown is the "on call" piper of the National Military Cemetery at Beechwood, where he can perform up to a dozen outdoor funerals a year.[5]

Hall of Colours

When new military colours are received or a unit is disbanded, colours are treated with utmost respect to military service and are never destroyed. After being carried on parade for the last time, the colour party presents the colours prior to the ceremony in which they are laid up for safekeeping in the Hall of Colours. Designed by Robertson Martin Architects, the Hall of Colours features a memorial stained glass window featuring an oak tree in leaf honouring Canadian military chaplains.[6] The Hall of Colours was supported by a donation of $50,000 from Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.[7]

The retired colours of Canada's army, air force, and naval regiments are mounted at ceiling level in the Hall of Colours in the National Memorial Centre.[8] They include:

History
Boy Scouts placing wreaths on the graves of William McDougall and Hewitt Bernard, Fathers of Confederation, in Beechwood Cemetery in 1927 in commemoration of the golden jubilee of Canadian Confederation

Canadian soldiers who were killed in the line of duty and war veterans have been buried in Beechwood Cemetery since the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The cemetery contains the National Military Cemetery which consists of two sections managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a Veterans Section owned by Veterans Affairs Canada, and the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces, created in 2001 and owned and managed by the federal Department of National Defence.

The first monument in the cemetery was erected by members of the 2nd Ottawa Field Battery in the 1870s. The sculptured sandstone cairn is dedicated to the memory of their former commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Turner.[10] Erected in the 1870s by members of the 2nd Ottawa Field Battery, a sculptured sandstone statue on shaft is dedicated to the memory of a former commander, Captain James Forsyth.[11]

The cemetery inspired a classic Canadian poem "In Beechwood Cemetery" by Archibald Lampman with its memorable final line, "They know no season but the end of time."[12]

Moses Chamberlain Edey designed the cemetery entrance gates in 1891.[13]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the graves of 98 Commonwealth (mainly Canadian) service personnel of World War I and 113 of World War II. The commission also maintains the Ottawa Cremation Memorial, in a shelter adjoining the newer of the veterans' plots, which lists 26 personnel who were cremated in Canada and the US in World War II.[14]

Noted for its Neo-Gothic architecture, the mausoleum at Beechwood was built by Canada Mausoleums Ltd. in the early 1930s. After a few years of operation, in a time of depression and financial difficulties, the mausoleum became the property of the cemetery. The building features stained glass windows designed by noted stained glass artist James Blomfield.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission erected a memorial, known as a Cross of Sacrifice, incorporating a bronze sword inlayed in a granite cross in memory of the war dead buried in the cemetery's field of honour.[15]

On 5 March 2009 Environment Minister Jim Prentice introduced legislation[16] to designate Beechwood as the National Cemetery of Canada due to "its location here in our national capital, Beechwood serves as a focal point for our national memorial events, including Remembrance Day, and it is an appropriate place to conduct state burials." This was done to "serve as an important symbol of Canadian unity and pride and a means of preserving and promoting Canada's rich history and our diversity."[17] The bill was passed on March 6.[18] The bill received royal assent on April 23, 2009.[19]

The multi-faith aspects include a monument to Our Lady of Fatima, Élisabeth Bruyère, St. Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, St. Charbel (for the Lebanese community) and a pagoda in the Chinese section of the cemetery and an Aboriginal Tribute Garden.[7][20]

Interments
Celtic cross at Beechwood Cemetery

A full list of notable individuals buried at Beechwood can be found on the cemetery's website.[21]

List by death year:

See also

References
  1. "Old Queen's Colour laid to rest". Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2018. Archived 30 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. RCMP National Memorial Cemetery: Beloved Canadians of a World-Renowned Uniform, Beechwood Cemetery Archived July 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "The National Military Cemetery". Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  4. "A History of the CSIS National Memorial Cemetery". 8 March 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  5. "Airman serves Canada with musical excellence". Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  6. "Canadian Military Chaplains' Association window: Beechwood Cemetery: Memorial 35061-021 Ottawa, ON". National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials. Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  7. "National Cemetery Designated By Federal Government – Legion Magazine". legionmagazine.com. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  8. "The Governor General Opens the Beechwood National Memorial Centre: 'A National Place of Tribute'". Archived from the original on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  9. "Sacred ceremony lays up 412 Squadron's retired colours". Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  10. "Turner memorial: Beechwood Cemetery: Memorial 35061-001 Ottawa, ON". National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials. Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  11. "Forsyth memorial: Beechwood Cemetery: Memorial 35061-002 Ottawa, ON". National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials. Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  12. "Library & Archives Canada Canadian Poetry Archives". 4 March 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  13. "Moses Chamberlain Edey (Ottawa Free Press, 13 Oct. 1891, 1)". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  14. CWGC Cemetery Report.
  15. "Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cross of Sacrifice: Beechwood Cemetery: Memorial 35061-004 Ottawa, ON". National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials. Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  16. "Bill C-17. LegisINFO. Parliament of Canada". Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  17. "CTV.ca | Prentice designates Beechwood a 'national' cemetery". 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  18. "Debates (Hansard) No. 272A – June 19, 2013 (41–1) – House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  19. "Government Bill (House of Commons) C-17 (40-2) – Royal Assent – National Cemetery of Canada Act – Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  20. "Lebanese Community | Beechwood".
  21. Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine [1] Historical Portraits
  22. "Louis Lefaive". Ottawa Citizen. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
Bibliography
  • McKendry, Jennifer (2003). Into the silent land : historic cemeteries & graveyards in Ontario. Kingston, Ontario.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Relyea, Dorothy (1991). Burial records of Beechwood cemetery, 1873–1900. Ottawa, Ontario: Ontario Genealogical Society, Ottawa Branch.
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