Today is the 297th anniversary of the birth of James Wolfe in Westerham, Kent.
Remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, leading to the capture of Montreal in 1760 and the acquisition of Canada by Britain in 1763. He is arguably one of, if not the most significant persons in the history of Canada.
The photo shows the vista over London from his statue at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, adjacent to the zeroth meridian.
Such an important piece of Canadian history.
Thank you for this.
I have relatives who live not far from Westerham, so I’ve had the chance to visit Wolfe’s childhood home, now run by the National Trust and named Quebec House.
He is buried in St. Alfege’s Church in Greenwich.
In 1981, on a belated honeymoon with my husband, some kind cousins on my mother-in-law’s side drove us to Westerham from their home in Beckenham, declaring that, especially since we were Canadians, my husband *had* to see his ancestor’s birthplace! I was somewhat nonplussed, being unaware, at the time, that my father-in-law had claimed Wolfe as a family member for years. Thirty years later, I discovered that his Wolff ancestors went back many generations — in Prussia. He would have been furious; he was a WW2 vet!
Nice day trip, though!
We stayed at a B&B , just north of Chateau Frontenac, called Manoir de la Tour in Quebec City many years ago. It was great. Fresh baked croissants in the morning etc for breakfast. The Monticello Tower was behind the hotel and behind that was the Plains of Abraham. The strange thing that I noticed was the painting on the wall. It was of James Wolfe in uniform, not Montcalm. A couple of blocks south was a free art gallery, very interesting.
I went there to do genealogy at Laval University but the records were later moved to a monk’s monastery.