As Lieutenant Governor and Honorary Colonel of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, Roberts helped organize a pilgrimage to the battle site of both battalions of the Regiment and dozens of Newfoundlanders who were “Friends of the Regiment.” Upon arrival in France, a politician from Ottawa decreed that the Regimental band must replace Newfoundland’s own anthem in their program with O Canada. The Newfoundlanders were shocked.
“Dad took the podium,” says Catherine, “before the members of the Regiment, the audience of several hundred people, and the news media, and gave a stirring speech explaining that in 1916, Newfoundland was a separate Dominion, that the Ode to Newfoundland was our anthem, and that the Royal Newfoundland Regiment band most assuredly would play the Ode, despite what the minister had said. And then, the band played it. I have never been prouder of him than I was on that day.”
But the story has a coda that she didn’t learn until years later.
“My dad understood that it’s very difficult for most Newfoundlanders to have the means or the resources to be able to visit Beaumont-Hamel,” says Catherine. So, when the centenary came in 2016, “he spearheaded a project to erect a replica of the bronze plaques that are at Beaumont-Hamel, with all the names of the fallen members of the Regiment, right in Bowring Park in St. John’s.”
“Last year, I made a point of bringing my kids to the monument, and explaining to them how important it was, without realizing Dad’s involvement. When we later told him of our visit, he was pleased but said nothing of his role in its creation.” It wasn’t until after he died that she learned he had initiated the project.
The Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel, France. Photo by Clemens Vasters
A great believer in education
The scholarships that Roberts created in his will with his gift to the Faculty of Law comes from the same desire to remove barriers, and create opportunity, for others. The Edward Roberts Bursary will support students from Newfoundland and Labrador who are in financial need, and who are studying law at U of T.
“He was a great believer in the importance of postsecondary education,” says Catherine. “He actually did a master’s degree in history in his sixties. He was a walking encyclopedia, the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever known.” His legacy now offers a transformative education to his fellow Newfoundlanders. “He spent his whole life in service to Newfoundland in one way or another.”
