Hamilton MacCarthy
Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy (28 July 1846 – 24 October 1939) was one of the earliest masters of monumental bronze sculpture in Canada. He is known for his historical sculptures, in particular his Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (1904) as well as Samuel de Champlain overlooking Parliament Hill on Nepean Point, Ottawa (1915), next to the National Gallery of Canada. His monument to the Ottawa volunteers who died in the South African War (1902) was moved to Confederation Park in 1969 after several moves.
Also recorded as Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy
Hamilton MacCarthy

Ontario Society of Artists fonds, Reference Code: F 1140-7-0-2.2, Archives of Ontario, I0010501 · Public domain
- Name
- Hamilton P.
- Born
- 28 July 1846
- Birthplace
- London, England
- Died
- 24 October 1939
- Place of death
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Field
- sculptor, educator
- Nationality
- Canada
- Occupation
- sculptor
- Education
- The St Marylebone CofE School
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Hamilton Thomas Carlton Plantagenet MacCarthy (28 July 1846 – 24 October 1939) was one of the earliest masters of monumental bronze sculpture in Canada. He is known for his historical sculptures, in particular his Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (1904) as well as Samuel de Champlain overlooking Parliament Hill on Nepean Point, Ottawa (1915), next to the National Gallery of Canada. His monument to the Ottawa volunteers who died in the South African War (1902) was moved to Confederation Park in 1969 after several moves.
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Hamilton MacCarthy (1846–1939) was a sculptor, of Canadian nationality. The sculptor was born in London and died in Ottawa.
Hamilton MacCarthy was educated at The St Marylebone CofE School. The sculptor was a member of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Works are held at National Gallery of Canada.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Other works include that of Ottawa mayor, Samuel Bingham, in Notre-Dame Cemetery in Vanier.

Hamilton MacCarthy, Hamilton Plantagenet MacCarthy, R.C.A. (I0007849)
All images from the M.O. Hammond fonds were uploaded as part of the Archives of Ontario’s GLAM Wiki project.

Ontario Society of Artists Members, 1889. William Daniel Blatchly, Marmaduke M. Mathews, John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, Thomas Mower Martin, Hamilton P. McCarthy, H. Hanniford, Robert Ford Gagen, Hon. G. Allen, William Revell, William Albert Sherwood
All images from the M.O. Hammond fonds were uploaded as part of the Archives of Ontario’s GLAM Wiki project.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Hamilton P. MacCarthy • Born — 28 July 1846 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 24 October 1939 • Place of death — Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Field — sculptor, educator
Life
Life
MacCarthy's father Hamilton Wright MacCarthy exhibited independent works at the Royal Academy and the British Institution in 1838 and between 1846 and 1867. They included a number of portrait busts (10-12). He contributed to the Great Exhibition a group of a deer hunt, consisting of a Scottish huntsman about to blow his horn, with a felled stag and two dogs 'executed in silver for ornamental purposes'. It was praised as 'a spirited performance, well composed' and was considered 'a credit to the designer'. • Illustration — Ontario Society of Artists Members (1889) - MacCarthy (back row, second from right) His wife exhibited a statuette of a famous racehorse, 'Pyrrhus The First', at the BI in 1857. Their son, Hamilton P MacCarthy, was also a sculptor and he exhibited portraiture and ideal works at the Royal Academy between 1875 and 1884. In London, MacCarthy studied with his father, and in Antwerp under Kerckhoven and at the RA Schools in London. He also attended St Marylebone School. At age 39, MacCarthy moved from London, England to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1885. Thirteen years later he moved to Ottawa. He studied at Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (R.C.A.) and, later, was made a member of Council (1906). He was also a member of the Ontario Society of Artists (O.S.A.). His work appears in galleries and public parks throughout Canada. MacCarthy had 15 children. The first three were born in England, the others in Canada. One of his sons Coeur de Lion MacCarthy (1881–1979) also became a sculptor. Coeur de Lion executed many busts of political figures including the bust of Queen Victoria for the alcove above the Speaker's Chair in the Senate Chamber. He worked with Dominion carver Cléophas Soucy on the figures for the Parliament Buildings including the lions at the entrance. MacCarthy set up a studio in Montreal in 1918. He is well known for his sympathetic memorials for the CPR and the Verdun War Memorial.
Works
Works
Samuel de Champlain The Hamilton MacCarthy sculpture of Samuel de Champlain in Ottawa became controversial later in the 20th century. Originally it included an Anishinaabe Scout kneeling on its base. In the 1990s after lobbying by Indigenous people, the scout was removed from the sculpture's platform, renamed, and relocated as a statue in its own right to Major's Hill Park. Experts have also noted that the statue depicts Champlain holding an astrolabe, but holding it upside-down.
Ottawa
Ottawa
• Illustration — Samuel de Champlain, Nepean Point, Ottawa • Illustration — Samuel de Champlain, Nepean Point, Ottawa • Illustration — Boer War Monument, Ottawa (1902) • Illustration — Alexander Mackenzie, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
• Illustration — South African War Memorial, Province House, Nova Scotia • Illustration — Battle of Witpoort, Boer War Monument, Province House, Nova Scotia • Illustration — Battle of Paardeberg • Illustration — Siege of Mafeking • Illustration — Harold Borden Monument, Canning, Nova Scotia • Illustration — Battle of Witpoort, Harold Borden Monument, Canning, Nova Scotia • Illustration — Battle of Cortzee Drift (Vet River), Harold Borden Monument, Canning, Nova Scotia • Illustration — Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, Quebec City (An exact replica of the bust at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) • Illustration — Boer War Sculpture, Halifax Public Gardens (1903)
Toronto
Toronto
• Illustration — Sir John A. Macdonald, Queen's Park (Toronto) • Illustration — Sir James Pliny Whitney, Queen's Park, Toronto • Illustration — Egerton Ryerson, Ryerson University, Toronto (1889-2021) removed by protesters demonstrating against Ryerson's role in the Canadian Indian residential school system. • Illustration — Tecumseh, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto • Illustration — General Isaac Brock, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
Other
Other
• Illustration — General Brock, Courthouse, Brockville, Ontario • Illustration — Boer War Monument, Quebec City, Quebec (1902) • Illustration — Robert Burns monument by Hamilton MacCarthy, Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, referencing an embraced Highland Mary • Illustration — Boer War Memorial, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (c.1900s) • Parting of Paul and Virginia (1876) • Boer War Monument at Province House, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island • Boer War Monument, Brantford, Ontario (1903) • Hamlet and Ophelia (1880) • Lucius O'Brien - National Gallery of Canada • Queen Victoria - bust, (1897) • Champlain, Saint John, New Brunswick Queen Square South End. • Brown Moose, bust of fictional Mohawk warrior (within Conan Doyle’s “the refugees”) 1896
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
London.
Birth place
Ottawa.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Hamilton MacCarthy”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5645050: Hamilton MacCarthy
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Heritage Port Hope Advisory Committee. 56 Queen Street. 2.
- 2.Millar, Joyce. Sculpture. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- 3.National Defence and Canadian Forces. Memorial Number: 35059-016.
- 4.A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851.
- 5.Artist Biographies. MacCARTHY Hamilton Plantagenet 1846-1939.
- 6.Obituary. The Gazette (Montreal). 25 October 1939
- 7.Descendants of Hamilton MacCarthy, sculptor (1847-1939). March 2022.
- 8.City of Vancouver. Coeur de Lion.
- 9.Couchie, Aylan. "very fine people on both sides". OCAD University. 37. 2018.
- 10.Capital Facts: The one oddity about Samuel de Champlain statue. Ottawa Citizen. 2017-02-02.
- 11.While MacCarthy's name is on this statue, it has been suggested that he did not contribute to it (see Canadian Biography On Line )
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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