Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Stairs, George W.
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1887-1915
History
George Stairs was born on August 25, 1887 to George and Helen Stairs. The Stairs family resided in Halifax since the eighteenth century. Stairs received his elementary school education at the Harrow House, attended the Toronto private school Upper Canada College, and was a student at Dalhousie from 1904-1908. He graduated in 1909 with a Bachelor of Arts with Great Distinction, and set a new academic record with his marks. Stairs went on to work at the Montreal Trust Company for two years, moved to Vancouver to do similar work, and eventually came back to Montreal to set up a business as a manufacturer’s agent. In the early days of mobilization for the First World War, Stairs was among the first to sign up and became a Lieutenant in the 14th Battalion, Canadian Infantry unit, Quebec Regiment at Valcartier. Stairs was the first Dalhousie student to die in the war. He died on April 24, 1915 while defending the Ypres Salient as part of the Second Battle of Ypres (the battle that was later commemorated by the poem “In Flanders Fields”) during the Battle of St. Julien. His brother, John, and cousins, Gavin and Graham, also passed away in the First World War. Stairs donated five thousand dollars to Dalhousie in his will, and is now memorialized at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.
Places
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Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
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Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families, 2nd Edition
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Maintenance notes
Authority record written by Nicole Dalrymple in July 2017.