Brenda (Allan) Meredith (1867-1959)
Lady Isobel "Brenda" (Allan) Meredith; died without children
She was born in Montreal at Iononteh into the Allan Shipping family - she was a niece of Sir Hugh Allan who was succeeded by her father in 1882 as the head of the family. She was among the most active in charitable circles in Montreal. She was Chairman of the Montreal Ladies Committee of the Victory Loan Campaign; President of the Purple Cross for wounded and disabled horses from the battlefields of World War I; President of the Canadian Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; President of the Ladies Branch of the Navy League; Governor of the Montreal Maternity Hospital; Director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Honorary Patron of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire; and, Vice-President of the Women's National Immigration Society. After World War I she was decorated by the Belgians for services to their country.
She took an active interest in sports and it was reported that on Christmas Eve, 1870, she was, "probably the first lady in Canada to put up an iron" for the Montreal Thistle Curling Club. She co-founded the Montreal Ladies Golf Club and in 1920 donated the Lady Meredith Cup that was the world's first ice hockey trophy to be competed for between women. She and her husband personally sponsored an annual ball for the nurses at the Royal Victoria Hospital and she was no doubt influential in her husband's decision to establish the "Sir Vincent Meredith Fund" at the Bank of Montreal which was set up for its female employees to relieve them in financial crisis and which is still in operation today. She and her husband had a passion for horses and were among the most enthusiastic supporters of Grand Opera in Montreal as well as for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She was a member and benefactor of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul where her husband gave four stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
In 1888, she married Sir Vincent Meredith, President of the Bank of Montreal, and they lived between Ardvarna on Pine Avenue and their country home at Senneville. They were unable to have children but frequently entertained their younger relations and their godchildren included: Sir Montagu Allan's only son; F.E. Meredith's only grandson; Sir Edward Clouston's daughter, Marjory; Brenda, daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor; and, Robert, son of Colonel Charles and Annie Rivers-Bulkeley, whose other godparents were the Duke of Connaught (Governor-General of Canada) and the Marquess of Curzon (Viceroy of India). She was widowed in 1929 and ten years later her unmarried brother James Bryce Allan returned from Europe and lived with her until he died in 1945.
She took an active interest in sports and it was reported that on Christmas Eve, 1870, she was, "probably the first lady in Canada to put up an iron" for the Montreal Thistle Curling Club. She co-founded the Montreal Ladies Golf Club and in 1920 donated the Lady Meredith Cup that was the world's first ice hockey trophy to be competed for between women. She and her husband personally sponsored an annual ball for the nurses at the Royal Victoria Hospital and she was no doubt influential in her husband's decision to establish the "Sir Vincent Meredith Fund" at the Bank of Montreal which was set up for its female employees to relieve them in financial crisis and which is still in operation today. She and her husband had a passion for horses and were among the most enthusiastic supporters of Grand Opera in Montreal as well as for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She was a member and benefactor of the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul where her husband gave four stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
In 1888, she married Sir Vincent Meredith, President of the Bank of Montreal, and they lived between Ardvarna on Pine Avenue and their country home at Senneville. They were unable to have children but frequently entertained their younger relations and their godchildren included: Sir Montagu Allan's only son; F.E. Meredith's only grandson; Sir Edward Clouston's daughter, Marjory; Brenda, daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor; and, Robert, son of Colonel Charles and Annie Rivers-Bulkeley, whose other godparents were the Duke of Connaught (Governor-General of Canada) and the Marquess of Curzon (Viceroy of India). She was widowed in 1929 and ten years later her unmarried brother James Bryce Allan returned from Europe and lived with her until he died in 1945.
