A contingent fit for a coronation
FLASH FROM THE PAST
There could hardly have been a better occasion to celebrate the power and prospects of the British Empire than a coronation.
George V had become King and Emperor in 1910. His coronation was set for June 22 the following year. The whole Empire prepared to celebrate, with contingents from every corner of the globe to converge on London for the ceremony.
To show its loyalty, the Dominion of Canada resolved to send a contingent of about 700 dignitaries and military men. These were to be drawn from communities across the sprawling country, including Guelph.
Nine Guelphites were chosen to sail across the pond. The civilian dignitaries were Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Guthrie and Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Harvey. Hugh Guthrie had been the local MP since 1900. He was then a backbencher in the Laurier government but would later go on to hold ministerial posts in various cabinets. Mr. Harvey was a local businessman who began his career in pharmacy but made his fortune in oil, real estate and finance.
The military contingent provided a cross-section of Guelph’s contribution to the country’s armed forces. The infantry was represented by Colour Sgt. Orrie Wideman of the 30th Regiment. Wideman was the son of Louis Wideman, a German immigrant who had been an important builder in Victorian Guelph and a captain in the 30th Regiment as well. Wideman followed in his footsteps in both regards. He later served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in the Great War.
The militia was represented by Sergeant-Major Charles Lark. Born in London, England, Lark had served in the London First Dragoons in the Boer War but had migrated to Canada to join the North-West Mounted Police. Instead, he settled in the Royal City, where he joined the militia. He too joined the CEF but was not deployed overseas. Afterwards, he worked in the Guelph Police Department and then as a guard at the Ontario Reformatory (later “Correction Centre”).
In military terms, Guelph was known for its emphasis on artillery and this fact was reflected in the coronation contingent. Major Douglas Foster was a local boy and a dentist who joined the 16th Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery in Guelph around 1900. During the Great War, he served as a Captain in the Canadian Army Dental Corps until struck by a case of appendicitis. After the war, he continued his service with the Wellington Rifles.
Sgt. Andrew Anderson was a member of the 11th Battery, about whom little else is currently known to me.
Finally, Sgt. Benjamin Bertram McConkey was a local boy who had joined the 16th Battery under Major Foster three years previously. After the coronation, he trained as an architect at McGill University. McConkey joined the CEF at the outset of the Great War as a lieutenant in the Artillery. He was later promoted to captain and won the Military Cross for his performance at the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917. He died on May 29, 1918, as a result of wounds to his right hand and shoulder. He is buried in Doullens in the Somme region of northern France.
The military contingents at the coronation were carefully recorded in photographs printed as postcards. The postcard here is titled, “Canadian Artillery — Colonial Coronation Contingents Camp, Duke of York’s School, London.” The back of the postcard shows that it was addressed to Joseph Vertigan, caretaker of the Guelph Armoury. The message reads, “Certainly a fine trip & lots of spare time. B B Mc”. Clearly, the card was sent by Benjamin Bertram McConkey and likely includes him as well as Major Foster and Sgt. Anderson. Unfortunately, it is not clear who is which.
The coronation was carried out in fine fashion. The colonial contingents returned to their communities throughout the Empire, confident that the good fortunes of the Edwardian period would continue and that better things were still to come.