Collection RG 10 - Ship's Badges

59 plaques : wood, metal, paint

In the late 1940s, McGill received an extensive set of ships’ badges from the Royal Navy. These were to serve as decoration on the walls of the swimming pool of the newly erected Memorial Hall. The British Admiralty had already coordinated with Mrs. Dolly McEuen for the donation of Royal Navy badges. Her husband, Charles Stuart McEuen, was a McGill Alumni (MDMC 1920), a Research Associate in Biochemistry at McGill from 1933-1940, and surgeon commander for the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. Mrs. McEuen then dedicated her time in Halifax to the establishment of the Ajax Club and the Ajax Hospitality Headquarters which served as entertaining and accommodating institutions for British soldiers wanting to make the most of life in Canada. The initial set of badges was sponsored by the 60,000$ surplus donations from Mrs. McEuen’s associations to establish the Ajax Hospitality Memorial Scholarships for young officers of the Royal Navy to attend McGill University post-WWII. In 1950, a semi-last minute addendum was coordinated with efforts from Principal Frank Cyril James, Mrs. McEuen and the Department of National Defence to add wood mounted badges of the Royal Canadian Navy as well. However, this amount of weight was judged to pose serious architectural issues to the swimming pool walls so the badges were installed in the gymnasium instead, and remained on display until likely the early 1970s. The badges were transferred to the McGill University Archive in 2007 (acc. 0000-0184 RG 10 C18 f.1362 “SHIPS’ BADGES”).

Collection consists of 59 heraldic plaques featuring Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy badges for ships and naval installations.