Although many businesses in the downtown Uxbridge area close early (4 or 5 pm) on weekends, there are thankfully statues and buildings to keep you content as a tourist.
My friend and I found this statue next to the CIBC branch. It was of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Simpson Sharpe. He looked pensive. We both wanted to learn more about him.
There was information about his life and tragic death, which was disturbing. He committed suicide on May 25, 1918 by jumping from his second-floor hospital room at Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. He was 46 years of age.
Sharpe was a war hero. He had won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and was a sitting Member of Parliament. His war service took a huge toll on him and his mental health.
He had been invalided back to Canada, suffering from shell-shock, which is more commonly known these days as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and was considered a disgrace by many in his regiment, despite having won the DSO.
On the 100th anniversary of his death, on May 25, 2018, the Town of Uxbridge gave Sharpe a long-overdue recognition for his service and bravery by dedicating a bronze statue on Brock Street West, kitty-corner to the Uxbridge Cenotaph, which also contains his name.
Sharpe was born in Zephyr, Ontario. It is now part of Uxbridge. He graduated from the University of Toronto and then Osgoode Hall Law School in 1895. He returned to Uxbridge and practiced law for ten years before entering politics as a Conservative in 1909, representing the riding of Ontario North.
There was a lot of reading, but it was great learning about Sharpe. It's a shame that he cut his life short as there wasn't any support for him. I am glad that this statue commemorates his service. Thanks to this statue, the provincial courthouse in Oshawa was renamed in honour of Sharpe over a year later.
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