Shelbourne Memorial Avenue

Location

• Saanich

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About

Shelbourne Memorial Avenue: Canada’s first Road of Remembrance

Following the end of the First World War in 1918, communities across Canada sought ways to honour the memory of their war dead. While many cities erected stone cenotaphs and statues, a unique vision took root in Greater Victoria: a living "Road of Remembrance."

Today, Shelbourne Street stands as Canada’s oldest Memorial Avenue (one of only three in Canada), a stretch of road originally envisioned to rival the Champs-Élysées in Paris, lined with trees acting as perpetual sentinels for the fallen.

The history: Planting the seeds of remembrance

The ambitious concept for a memorial avenue was first proposed in February 1921 by H.B. Thomson to the local Chamber of Commerce. He envisioned a stately, tree-lined thoroughfare where each tree would bear a small metal tablet representing a British Columbian war hero (Dave Obee, 2008).

On October 2, 1921, Shelbourne Street was formally dedicated as Canada's first Road of Remembrance. Between 5,000 and 7,000 citizens, along with a line of automobiles stretching for 1.6 kilometres, gathered near Mount Douglas Park to witness the historic event. British Columbia’s Premier John Oliver and Lieutenant-Governor Walter C. Nichol delivered speeches, with Nichol profoundly noting, "He who plants a tree plants a hope... Old men plant young trees and the fruit of their planting goes to another age" (Municipality of Saanich; Dave Obee, 2008).

The community selected the London Planetree for the avenue due to its hardiness, resistance to urban pollution, and incredible longevity, capable of living over 300 years. The original hope was to plant one tree for every British Columbian lost in the war. While this proved impossible due to space constraints and the tragic scale of the casualties (over 6,000 British Columbians died in the Great War), approximately 600 trees were ultimately planted. In March 1922, volunteers braved bitter winds to shovel earth and physically plant the first allotments of these living monuments (Municipality of Saanich; Veterans Affairs Canada).

Today, while urban expansion and road widening in the 1960s and 1970s reduced their numbers, approximately 200 of the original planetrees remain standing (Royal Roads University). In 2010, two additional trees were added to honour the two Victoria soldiers who died in the war in Afghanistan.

Famous figures and the generals' trees

The significance of Shelbourne Memorial Avenue drew international attention, marked by the visits of three highly distinguished military leaders in 1922, each of whom planted a memorial tree along the route (Municipality of Saanich):

• Marshal Joseph Joffre (March 1922): The supreme commander of French forces during the war's early years visited Victoria to pay tribute to the Allied effort. Greeting local schoolchildren along the way, he vigorously shoveled the earth himself, stating in French, "May the memory of these brave fellows always remain as green as this tree's leaves" (Dave Obee, 2008).
  

• Viscount Julian Byng (August 1922): The commander who led the Canada Corps to their defining victory at Vimy Ridge, and later Canada's 12th Governor-General, planted a tree and took time to chat cordially with veteran soldiers, checking on their transition to civilian life.
  

• Sir Arthur Currie (September 1922): Before commanding the entire Canada Corps due to being a key player in the great Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge, Currie was a school teacher and realtor in Victoria. Currie was knighted by King George V in 1918. In 1920, he went on to be the principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University. Taking his turn as a tree-planter in 1922, he remarked, "A tree is a living thing which will stand and grow and perpetually keep green the memory of the Canadian soldiers." Currie returned to Victoria in 1931; he planted a copper beech in Mayor's Grove, Beacon Hill Park. The tree flourishes to this day (Municipality of Saanich).

  
  

Remembering the fallen

The memorial trees were planted for ordinary citizens who made extraordinary sacrifices. While individual plaques no longer remain on the trees, the stories of those they represent endure (Municipality of Saanich).

The Oliver family 

The war extracted a devastating toll on families. On April 24, 1915, during the Battle of Second Ypres, 44-year-old Sidney Oliver and his 22-year-old son William were killed in the exact same action. Tragically, Sophia Oliver, having lost her husband and son on the same day, was bereaved again on Easter Monday 1917 when her second son, James (19), died at Vimy Ridge.

Gladys Wake and Christina Campbell 

The fallen included women who served courageously near the front lines. Nursing Sister Gladys Wake (34) of Victoria was killed in May 1918 when enemy bombs struck her hospital on the French coast. A month later, Vancouver's Christina Campbell (40) was among fourteen nurses who drowned when their hospital ship, the Llandovery Castle, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

Frank Butts 

The prescribed minimum age to fight in the Canada Corps was 19, but many eager youths lied to enlist. Frank Butts of Saanich was one such volunteer. He was among the 2,400 Canadians killed on the first day of the battle for Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. His real age was only 17.

James Richardson (Victoria Cross) 

British Columbia contributed significantly to the war effort, earning 14 of Canada's 73 Victoria Crosses. Among them was 20-year-old James Richardson of Chilliwack. A piper, Richardson bravely played in the open to rally the men of the 16th Battalion at the Somme in October 1916. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his incredible valour but never knew it; he disappeared in the battlefield shortly after his performance.

A century later, the London Planetrees of Shelbourne Memorial Avenue continue to stand as living sentinels, reminding us that while time moves forward, the roots of our local history remain firmly planted.

Information for this page was compiled from the Municipality of Saanich Archives, Veterans Affairs Canada, historical research by Dave Obee, and documentary coverage by Royal Roads University.

Lands

• The District of Saanich lies within the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the Tsartlip, Pauquachin, Tsawout, Tseycum and Malahat Nations.

Amenities

• Interpretive signs

Online

• Shelbourne Memorial Avenue @Saanich.ca

• Shelbourne Memorial Trees @Veterans.gc.ca

• Trees of Remembrance: Shelbourne Memorial Avenue @Warheritage.RoyalRoads.ca

Videos