Sydney Chilton Mewburn Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Hon.
Sydney Chilton Mewburn
Constituency Mp:Hamilton East
Parliament:Canadian
Predecessor:Samuel Barker
Successor:George Septimus Rennie
Term Start:1917
Term End:1926
Birth Date:4 December 1863
Birth Place:Hamilton, Canada West
Party:Conservative
Cabinet:Minister of Militia and Defence (1917-1920)
Allegiance:Canada
Branch:Canadian Army
Serviceyears:?-1917
Rank:Major-General
Commands:Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (13th Royal Regiment c. 1910)
Battles:Vimy

Sydney Chilton Mewburn, (December 4, 1863  - August 11, 1956) was a Canadian lawyer, soldier, and politician.Born in Hamilton, Canada West, he was the Minister of Militia and Defence from October 12, 1917, to January 15, 1920, under Sir Robert Borden's Union Government. Mewburn was Commanding Officer (Colonel) of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (13th Royal Regiment as of 1910)[1] and served during World War I, he was a Major General (and Adjutant-General) in the Canadian Army before his appointment as Minister of Militia in October 1917. His son John Mewburn served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was killed in action during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette in September 1916.

Mewburn was later the Chair of the 1920 Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission, which selected the site for the Vimy Memorial.[2]

Notes and References

  1. News: Best. John. November 22, 2013. Hamilton's Vimy Connection - Sydney Mewburn. The Bay Observer.
  2. Pierce. John. 1992. Constructing Memory: The Vimy Memorial. Canadian Military History. 1. 1. 4–8.