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[3] and has served since 2004 as the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery.[4] Governor General Michaëlle Jean opened the Beechwood National Memorial Centre on 7 April 2008.[5] In 2017, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's National Memorial Cemetery was established at Beechwood.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8] The Hall of Colours was supported by a donation of $50,000 from Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.[9]
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.[10] They include:
Royal Canadian Navy's 30-year-old Queen's Colour (2008)
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.[12] 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.[13]
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."[14]
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.[16]
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.[17]
On 5 March 2009 Environment MinisterJim Prentice introduced legislation[18] 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."[19] The bill was passed on March 6.[20] The bill received royal assent on April 23, 2009.[21]
Sir Henry Newell Bate (1833–1906), Canadian industrialist, first Chairman of the National Improvement Commission (National Capital Commission), founder of Beechwood Cemetery, Founder of All Saints Anglican Church (Ottawa)
Charles H. Mackintosh (1843–1931), Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories, 1893–1898, Member of Parliament, 13th Mayor of Ottawa, (1879–1881), owner/editor of the Ottawa Citizen (1874–1892)
^"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.
