Canadian Campaign Medals >
North West Canada Medal 1885, to a Dresser (Medical Student) Hutton of Field Hospital No. 1 (later killed in the Chehalis disaster in Vancouver)
North West Canada Medal 1885, to a Dresser (Medical Student) Hutton of Field Hospital No. 1 (later killed in the Chehalis disaster in Vancouver)
North West Canada Medal 1885, to a Dresser Hutton of Field Hospital No. 1
North West Canada Medal 1885, to Dresser William Alfred Bertrand Hutton of Field Hospital No 1. The Medal has the scarce "Saskatchewan" Clasp of which only 1,760 were awarded with the Medals, which is in good condition and reads "SASKATCHEWAN"
The obverse of the Medal depicts Queen Victoria facing leftwards with "VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX" surrounding, with reverse reading "North West Canada 1885" with detailed Canadian Maple leaf laurel wreath surrounding. The Medal is correctly named:
"W.A.B. HUTTON FIELD HOSPITAL NO 1"
William Alfred Bertrand Hutton was a Dresser with Field Hospital No 1 during the North-West Rebellion. His residence was in Winnipeg during the time of his service in the North-West Rebellion, his occupation in the 1885 City Directory was "Medical Student". He is listed asreceiving the North West Canada Medal with the Saskatchewan Clasp in the published roll by Barbara Wilson. In the 1891 Census he is listed as a Physician in Winnipeg. In 1894 he married Belle Dumont Brooks at Catskill, New York giving his occupation as President of the British North American Banknote Company. They had at least one daughter, Nestlin Anna Hutton, b. Winnipeg 23 Sept 1896. Tragically, his wife Belle died on 12 September 1900 in Winnipeg.
Dr. William Alfred Bertrand Hutton was tragically killed in the sinking of the Chehalis in 1906 and is commemorated on the Chehalis Cross Cenotaph in The Stanley Park Pioneer Cemetery, Vancouver, B.C. which was erected in memory of the eight persons who lost their lives when the Chehalis was sunk by the Princess Victoria on July 21, 1906, at 2.p.m. opposite the location of the cross.
The Chehalis was a tug commissioned for the Union Steamship Company. The wooden hull was built by Colin McAlpine at False Creek, Vancouver, in 1897. She was 59.3′ feet long by 13′ in breadth by 6.5′ feet deep in the hold. She had four overnight berths and was certified to carry up to 15 passengers.
July 21, 1906, was a clear, sunny Saturday. Early in the afternoon, the Chehalis set off on a three-week charter to norther Vancouver Island and Blunden Harbour. She had eight passengers aboard, businessmen and their families who were combining a pleasure cruise with a look at potential investments upcoast. There were also six crewman onboard. She was bucking a fierce flood tide so Captain James House angles southwest across the harbour toward Brockton Point, planning to catch the back eddy which ran out through First Narrows along the Stanley Park shore.
Meanwhile, the Princess Victoria left the C.P.R. wharf downtown. The ferry was 300′ long, almost 2000 tons gross, and capable of 21 knots. Captain Griffen rang for full speed as she approached Brockton Point, passing inside Burnaby Shoal. He later told newsmen:
As we came around the point, there was a gasoline launch on our port bow and the tug Chehalis on our starboard…..At this point the channel is so narrow that our only course was to steady our helm and go between the two craft. I saw the tug swerve from her course and lay directly across the bows…..When we came within a boat length the tide seemed to veer the tug around and her port quarter struck our bow. It rolled the vessel over and in a quart minute she went down……
