The Patricks and Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier served as Canada’s seventh prime minister from 1896 to 1911, the longest consecutive streak in the country’s history. He was also the first French Canadian prime minister. But he is perhaps best known today as the guy on the $5 bill, a position he has held since 1972, although he is soon to be replaced by Terry Fox. Laurier will then appear on the $50 bill, displacing another long-serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King.    

In 1910, Laurier visited Nelson, BC, where the Patrick family then lived. As one item on his itinerary, he presented the lieutenant governor’s medal to Grace Patrick (daughter of Feather Patrick) for having the best marks in British Columbia on her high school entrance exams. The moment was recorded in the Nelson Daily News of Aug. 30:

As he was pinning the medal on Miss Patrick’s dress Sir Wilfred asked: “Is this a niece of Mr. Joseph Patrick?” and on being informed that Miss Patrick was a daughter of F.T. Patrick said: “I knew your grandfather, James Patrick, very well. He was one of my best and truest friends in Quebec.”

However, Sir Wilfrid was in error: Grace’s grandfather was Thomas, not James. Furthermore, Thomas was 23 years older than Sir Wilfrid, so they probably weren’t boyhood pals. It’s not clear who the prime minister was thinking of. Thomas had a brother named James, but he was eight years older still. Thomas did not have any sons named James.

Joseph Patrick did support Laurier’s Liberal party, though. What’s more, Joseph’s brother Louis’ eldest son was named Wilfrid Laurier Patrick. Wilfrid died in infancy in 1897.

A story in the Victoria Daily Times of March 17, 1920, revealed that Lester Patrick was helping the Victoria Liberal Association raise funds for a Sir Wilfrid Laurier Memorial Fund, to pay for a statue on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. A bronze bust of Laurier, designed by Albert Laliberte, was indeed unveiled in 1922, but in Laurier’s hometown of Arthabaska, Que., not in Ottawa. I’m not sure if this was what Lester was raising money for, and I don’t know where it is today. There’s also a Wilfrid Laurier Memorial in Dorchester Square in Montreal, but it wasn’t created until 1953.

In 1956, at a tribute night in Regina, Father Athol Murray announced plans to raise funds for a bronze bust of Lester. But I can find no sign that it came to fruition.

Updated Feb. 11, 2025 to add the part about the Wilfrid Laurier Memorial Fund and on Feb. 13, 2025 to add the part about the planned bust of Lester.