John Walsingham Cooke Meredith - Memorials

Memorials

John Meredith bore an unmistakable resemblance to his mother's family, most notably seen in his cousin's grandson, John Redmond. On May 24, 1881, he died along with nearly two hundred others in the disaster that struck the Victoria steam-boat at London, Ontario. His son, Richard Martin Meredith, presented a chime of eleven church bells along with the tower clock to St. Paul's Cathedral (London, Ontario) in memory of his parents. The bells were cast in conjunction with the clock by Messrs Gillett & Johnston of Croydon, Surrey, and were first rung on Christmas Day, 1901. The inscription on the bells reads, In memory of John Walsingham Cooke Meredith, born 9 May 1809, died 24 May 1881; and Sarah, his wife, born 4 July 1819, died 12 September 1900.

Along with most of his family, John and his wife were buried at the Meredith Monument at Woodlands Cemetery in London, Ontario, the plot being marked by a tall celtic cross. There are also four memorial windows to the Merediths designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in St. Paul's which feature the names of all of Meredith's family, donated by another son, Sir Vincent Meredith, and his wife.

One of the buildings at the Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario, is dedicated to his eldest daughter, Isabella Magdalene Meredith (1841–1907), and Meredith Avenue, also in London, is named after his sixth son, Thomas Graves Meredith. In Montreal, Charles Meredith House now serves as part of McGill University, named for his seventh son, and similarly, Lady Meredith House is named for the wife of his fifth son, Sir Vincent Meredith. The family is also remembered through a number of trophies, cups, scholarships and endowments donated by them.