Charles Sandwith Campbell
Encyclopedia
Charles Sandwith Campbell K.C., LL.D. (1858–1923) was a benefactor who gave the City of Montreal the Campbell Concerts and Campbell Parks. He was a Governor of McGill University
.
, Campbell was the eldest son of Sir Alexander Campbell
, Postmaster General of Canada
and Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. His mother, Georgina Fredrica Locke Sandwith, was the daughter of Thomas Sandwith of Beverley
, Yorkshire
, the eminent philanthropist, political reformer and advocate of social and intellectual advancement. Campbell's mother was a first cousin of Humphrey Sandwith.
Campbell was educated at Bishop's College School
, Lennoxville, and afterwards at Laval University, where he graduated avec grande distinction. In 1877, he continued his legal education in England
at Trinity College, Cambridge
, entering Lincoln's Inn
the following year. He graduated B.A.
, LL.B.
in 1881. In 1884, he returned to Canada and entered the Montreal law firm of William Badgley
and John Abbott
, becoming a senior partner in 1887. In 1889, he and two other former Laval students, Frederick Edmund Meredith
and James Bryce Allan (1861–1945) K.C. (nephew of Sir Hugh Allan and brother of Lady Vincent Meredith
), took over from the old senior partners and formed the firm of Campbell, Meredith & Allan. They became the most influential firm of corporation lawyers to the majority of the residents of the Golden Square Mile
in Montreal
, the holders of 70% of Canada's wealth in 1900. Today the firm is known as Borden Ladner Gervais
.
Widely recognised as 'one of the outstanding corporate lawyers in the country', he concerned himself mainly with corporate and commercial affairs, rarely entering into litigation. In the courts he had a reputation as a persistent, even an obstinate man, but in the firm's offices he was remembered as quiet and gentle. He served as an officer with the Montreal Garrison Artillery and was on the executive board of the Montreal Liberal-Conservatives Association.
He served as a director of many client companies including the Montreal Terminal Railway, and he sat on the board of Governors of McGill University
. Campbell retired from legal practice in 1910, retiring to his farm at Dorval. Already a director of the Montreal Jockey Club and on the committee of the Montreal Horse Show, he became involved in breeding racehorses
. But, frustrated by the rules which prohibited the importation of better breeding stock from outside Canada, he abandoned it after only three years. He sold his racing farm and bought another big estate at Bedford in the Eastern Townships
, where he continued his interest in scientific farming
. For the remainder of his life he only spent his summers in Montreal
.
worth $2 million. After provision had been made for the upkeep of his horse, Kodak, it was divided into five parts. One went to the Montreal General Hospital
, one to the Kingston General Hospital
and one to various relatives and friends. The remaining two parts, worth one million dollars, were left to the City of Montreal
. One part was to purchase parkland 'in congested parts of the City of Montreal to make playgrounds for young children not too far from their parents abodes' and the second part was to provide an income to be used 'to encourage the playing on summer evenings of bands of music in the public places handy to the congested parts of the city'. In 1949, the Montreal Herald reported,
Nobody has named a street nor a park for him. No bandsman has dedicated a composition, nor civic body erected a monument to him. But Charles Sandwith Campbell has left his own enduring monument, sounding forever in the ears of a million Montrealers, his heirs at large.
Today there are three Campbell Parks in Montreal and concerts in his name are still given at no charge for the people of Montreal. This picture shows Campbell's closest friend and the executor of his will, Frederick Edmund Meredith
, presenting a key to Mayor Médéric Martin
(who ironically held an open contempt towards the Anglo-Quebecer population and leadership in Montreal, which the likes of Campbell and Meredith epitomised) for the new Campbell playground (formerly Sohmer Park) in the East End working class area of Montreal, June 19, 1926. F.E. Meredith presents Mayor Médéric Martin of Montreal with a key to one of the new Campbell Parks, 1926
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
.
Biography
Born in 1858 at Kingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Campbell was the eldest son of Sir Alexander Campbell
Alexander Campbell (Canadian politician)
Sir Alexander Campbell, PC, KCMG, QC was an English-born, Canadian statesman and politician, and a father of Canadian Confederation....
, Postmaster General of Canada
Postmaster General of Canada
The Postmaster General of Canada was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for the Post Office Department . In 1851, management of the post office was transferred from Britain to the provincial governments of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward...
and Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. His mother, Georgina Fredrica Locke Sandwith, was the daughter of Thomas Sandwith of Beverley
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, the eminent philanthropist, political reformer and advocate of social and intellectual advancement. Campbell's mother was a first cousin of Humphrey Sandwith.
Campbell was educated at Bishop's College School
Bishop's College School
This article is about the school in Canada. Alternatively, visit Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa.Bishop's College School is a private school in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada....
, Lennoxville, and afterwards at Laval University, where he graduated avec grande distinction. In 1877, he continued his legal education in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, entering Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
the following year. He graduated B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
in 1881. In 1884, he returned to Canada and entered the Montreal law firm of William Badgley
William Badgley
William Badgley was born in Lower Canada, educated there, and admitted to the Lower Canadian bar in 1823. He became a judge and attorney general for Canada East....
and John Abbott
John Abbott
Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, PC, KCMG, QC was the third Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the office for seventeen months, from June 16, 1891 to November 24, 1892. - Life and work :...
, becoming a senior partner in 1887. In 1889, he and two other former Laval students, Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
and James Bryce Allan (1861–1945) K.C. (nephew of Sir Hugh Allan and brother of Lady Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
), took over from the old senior partners and formed the firm of Campbell, Meredith & Allan. They became the most influential firm of corporation lawyers to the majority of the residents of the Golden Square Mile
Golden Square Mile
The Golden Square Mile was the name of a luxurious neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal in the west-central section of downtown Montreal, Canada...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, the holders of 70% of Canada's wealth in 1900. Today the firm is known as Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is the largest full-service Canadian law firm. The Firm has over 750 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals in offices in Calgary, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo Region...
.
Widely recognised as 'one of the outstanding corporate lawyers in the country', he concerned himself mainly with corporate and commercial affairs, rarely entering into litigation. In the courts he had a reputation as a persistent, even an obstinate man, but in the firm's offices he was remembered as quiet and gentle. He served as an officer with the Montreal Garrison Artillery and was on the executive board of the Montreal Liberal-Conservatives Association.
He served as a director of many client companies including the Montreal Terminal Railway, and he sat on the board of Governors of McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. Campbell retired from legal practice in 1910, retiring to his farm at Dorval. Already a director of the Montreal Jockey Club and on the committee of the Montreal Horse Show, he became involved in breeding racehorses
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
. But, frustrated by the rules which prohibited the importation of better breeding stock from outside Canada, he abandoned it after only three years. He sold his racing farm and bought another big estate at Bedford in the Eastern Townships
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships is a tourist region and a former administrative region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed Logan's Line, the geologic boundary between the flat,...
, where he continued his interest in scientific farming
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. For the remainder of his life he only spent his summers in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Campbell Concerts and Parks
Charles Campbell was unmarried when he died in 1923, leaving an estateEstate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
worth $2 million. After provision had been made for the upkeep of his horse, Kodak, it was divided into five parts. One went to the Montreal General Hospital
Montreal General Hospital
The Montreal General Hospital is a hospital in Montreal, Canada, established on May 1, 1819 and an early teaching hospital. First located on the corner of Craig and St-Lawrence Streets with only 24 beds, it moved in 1822 to a new 72-bed building on Dorchester Street. It is currently situated on...
, one to the Kingston General Hospital
Kingston General Hospital
The Kingston General Hospital is a teaching hospital affiliated with Queen's University located in Kingston, Ontario. The hospital is a partner within Kingston's university hospitals, delivering health care, conducting research and training health care professionals.As the oldest public hospital...
and one to various relatives and friends. The remaining two parts, worth one million dollars, were left to the City of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. One part was to purchase parkland 'in congested parts of the City of Montreal to make playgrounds for young children not too far from their parents abodes' and the second part was to provide an income to be used 'to encourage the playing on summer evenings of bands of music in the public places handy to the congested parts of the city'. In 1949, the Montreal Herald reported,
Nobody has named a street nor a park for him. No bandsman has dedicated a composition, nor civic body erected a monument to him. But Charles Sandwith Campbell has left his own enduring monument, sounding forever in the ears of a million Montrealers, his heirs at large.
Today there are three Campbell Parks in Montreal and concerts in his name are still given at no charge for the people of Montreal. This picture shows Campbell's closest friend and the executor of his will, Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith
Frederick Edmund Meredith K.C., D.C.L. was a Canadian lawyer and businessman, the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University, Lennoxville; honorary President of the Montreal Victorias for three of their Stanley Cup championships in the late 1890s, and Chief Counsel to the CPR at the inquest into the...
, presenting a key to Mayor Médéric Martin
Médéric Martin
-Background:Born to Salomon Martin, a carpenter and Virginie Lafleur, Martin studied at St. Eustache College and went on to open a cigar store in Montreal's East End and soon became a populist politician, best known for stirring up suspicion against English Montreal residents.-Member of the house...
(who ironically held an open contempt towards the Anglo-Quebecer population and leadership in Montreal, which the likes of Campbell and Meredith epitomised) for the new Campbell playground (formerly Sohmer Park) in the East End working class area of Montreal, June 19, 1926. F.E. Meredith presents Mayor Médéric Martin of Montreal with a key to one of the new Campbell Parks, 1926
External links
- Those Campbell Band Concerts - Montreal Gazette, 1977
- In recognition of Charles Sandwith Campbell - Montreal Gazette - 1941
- Thanks to an Unusual Bequest, these Montrealers enjoy outdoor concerts on Summer Evenings - Ottawa Citizen - 1954
- Campbell Concerts - Montreal Gazette - 1936
- Campbell Concert Series
- Campbell Free Band Concerts
- Sohmer Park (Campbell)
- Campbell's relation, Humphry Sandwith