Edward Beatty died from heart failure at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal on March 23, 1943 at the age of sixty-five. His funeral was held at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in downtown Montreal. The funeral didn't feature a eulogy of Beatty's life, only prayers and two hymns, just as he had requested.
Montreal Daily Star article announcing Edward Beatty's death on March 24, 1943. Image: McGill University Library.
A Nation Mourns
The funeral proceedings reflected Beatty's position as a national hero. According to The Montreal Daily Star, that afternoon thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respect. McGill cancelled all afternoon classes so that students and faculty could honour their former Chancellor, and Montreal's CPR offices closed at noon. Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Quebec Premier Joseph Adelard Godbout attended the funeral and his pallbearers included McGill's Principal F. Cyril James and Donald Cuthbert Coleman, who succeeded Beatty as CPR President.
Addressing the press, Prime Minister King stated: "From the time of his appointment as president of the CPR in 1918 to his resignation of that office about a year ago, Sir Edward Beatty held a position in public esteem second to none among those who have been foremost in the life of Canada... To the zeal for great causes to which he gave of his time and talents so unsparingly, he brought exceptional gifts of scholarship, broad-mindedness and high principled leadership."
Video: McGill University Archives.
The procession after Beatty's funeral to the nearby CPR's Windsor Station was led by a 100-member detachment from the Royal Canadian Navy, plus members of the Canadian Army Reserve and the Boy Scouts of Canada, all of whom had enjoyed his patronage, as well as a detachment of CPR police. Beatty's body was then transported for burial to St. Catharines, Ontario using his private railroad car, which he had named Thorold, after his birth town. A memorial service was also held in London, England led by Vincent Massey, then Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
According to the newspaper caption, "the funeral service... was one of the most impressive in
the city's history. Many cars massed with flowers were needed to carry the floral tributes."
Image: University of Toronto Archives (unknown newspaper and date).
A Philanthropic Legacy
Beatty was survived by his sister Mary H. Beatty and his brother Dr. Henry A. Beatty, who in 1952 would endow the Beatty Lecture in Sir Edward's honour. Like his siblings, Beatty died unwed and without heirs, although it was often said that Beatty had married—he married the CPR.
On his death, Sir Beatty left half of his estate to various charities. In addition to his dedication to McGill and the CPR, Beatty was involved with philanthropic and educational work in hospitals and youth associations. He had served as trustee and president of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, president of the Shawbridge Farm School, governor of Lower Canada College in Montreal, a member of the corporation of Bishop's University at Lennoxville, Quebec and chairman of the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee for the Province of Quebec. From 1919 to 1923, Beatty had also served as Chancellor of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
Portrait of Edward Beatty by Blank & Stoller, date unknown.
Image: McGill University Archives.
Honours and Accolades
Beatty received many honours during his lifetime: 1915 - King's Counsel (Ontario and Dominion of Canada), 1924 - Knight Commander First Class of the Order of St. Olaf (Norway), 1934 - Knight of Grace the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 1935 - Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 1935, Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, presented Sir Beatty with the Order of the Silver Wolf, the highest honourary award possible, for his work as president of the Boy Scouts of Canada. In 1937, the Canadian Navy honoured him with the first honourary rank it ever created, a commission as honourary captain, Montreal division, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Honourary degrees were conferred on Beatty by universities in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and the United States, including McGill University, University of Toronto, Bishop's University, McMaster University, University of Western Ontario, University of New Brunswick, Queen's University and the University of Alberta in Canada; New York University and Dartmouth University in the United States; Trinity College Dublin and St. Andrew's University in Scotland.
McGill purchased Beatty's home near the campus at 1266 Pine Avenue, which was renamed Sir Beatty Hall.
Image on section homepage courtesy CRHA/Exporail.
Further Reading
Beatty of the CPR: A Biography by D. H. Miller-Barstow, McClleland & Stewart, 1951.
McGill: The Story of a University by Hugh MacLennan, Allen & Unwin, 1960.
"The Decade of a Chancellor" in McGill History: For the Advancement of Learning, Volume II, 1895-1971 by Stanley Brice Frost, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1984.
"The Dilemma of Democracy: Sir Edward Beatty, the Railway Question, and National Government" in Dominion of Capital: the politics of big business and the crisis of the Canadian bourgeoisie, 1914-1947 by Don Nerbas, University of Toronto Press, 2013.