MONTREAL -- This week marks the passing of Capt. Percival Molson, a legendary McGill University graduate who was killed in action overseas on July 5, 1917.
The son of John Thomas Molson and Jane ("Jennie") Butler, he had blue eyes and brown hair and was a great-grandson of John Molson, who founded Molson's Brewery in 1786.
He was born Percival Talbot Molson on Aug. 14, 1880, in Cacouna, Que., a resort community located in the Rivière-du-Loup region, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. "Percy" attended Montreal High School and quickly developed into one of Canada's most outstanding athletes. At the age of 16, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound forward became the youngest player ever to win the Stanley Cup as a member of the 1897 Montreal Victorias. He enrolled at McGill in the fall of 1897 and seven years later, at the age of 23, Molson became McGill's first-ever Olympian, competing in track and field at the 1904 Summer Games in St. Louis, Missouri.
Molson represented the faculty of arts on the McGill University Athletics Association committee and later served as president of that group in addition to a term as president of his senior class. He graduated in 1901 with a bachelor of arts degree, but returned for an additional three years to study in the faculty of science. He captained the varsity hockey team to a Queen's Cup league championship in 1902-03 in addition to starring in varsity track and field, as well as football, cricket and racquet sports.
He scored sufficient points to win the "Individual Trophy" as the school's best all-round male athlete for three consecutive years, a feat unmatched in McGill sports history. He earned virtually every athletic honour the University offered and set a record in the long jump at the American Athletics Union meet in 1903. That year, he won the long jump at both the United States outdoor track and field championships, and the 440 yards at the Canadian championships.
He established numerous personal bests, including a time of 10.2 seconds in the 100-yard dash, a sizzling 49.6 in the 440-yard race, an estimated 2:01 in the 880 yards, and a lengthy leap of 6.77 metres in the long jump, a McGill mark that stood for about nine decades (the current record is 7.20m set in 1996).
Renowned for his sportsmanship, he earned the unique distinction of never having been penalized in any sport for unfair tactics. In one particular hockey game versus Queen's, Molson was flagged for what was perceived by the referee as an illegal body check on George Richardson, captain of the Golden Gaels. However, Richardson indicated that he had been checked fairly and the referee agreed to cancel the penalty. Later in the game, Molson was given credit for a goal but he admitted to the officials that the puck had gone in off his arm and the goal was disallowed!
From 1902 to 1906, Molson played for the Montreal Football Club, associated with the MAAA. He captained the team in 1903 and 1904 and was a member of the 1906 Quebec Rugby Football Union champions in 1906. He also actively promoted amateur football after his active playing days. In 1909, he was named one of the original trustees of the Grey Cup, then the country's new amateur football championship trophy.
After his graduation, Molson embarked upon a career as a manager at the Montreal-based National Trust Company. In his early 30s, he became the youngest member to serve on the McGill board of governors, chairing both, the finance and stadium committees. The latter embarked in 1913 on a new football stadium for the University, to be financed in part by future gate receipts. Construction was mostly completed by 1915 and the venue was formally inaugurated as McGill Graduates' Stadium on Oct. 22, 1915 in front of 4,000 spectators at an intercollegiate track meet. However, the war effort halted work on that project and the Stadium sat dormant for four years.
In September of 1914, Molson served with the McGill contingent of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps and by the age of 34, he formally enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in April of 1915. His military attestation noted that he had a scar over his right knee, a scar on the bottom of the third and fourth fingers of his right hand, and he had a prominence of the outer end of his left clavicle. Molson was instrumental in forming an infantry company from recent McGill graduates, to help reinforce the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry.
Lieutenant Molson embarked for England on June 29, 1915 and less than a year later, on June 2, 1916, he suffered a severe gunshot wound to the face and jaw in the Battle of Mount Sorrel at Sanctuary Wood, near Hooge West Flanders in Belgium. The "Patricias" occupied Sanctuary Wood, but the No. 1 Company was practically wiped out. Lieutenant Molson was noted "to lead a desperate and successful resistance to German attacks" and he received the Military Cross for gallantry and distinguished conduct in action.
After recovering from his wounds, Molson returned to the front lines on June 1, 1917 and served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was killed on July 5, 1917 on a direct hit by a trench mortar shell fired from a German howitzer in a village square near Avion, France, about nine kilometres northeast of Vimy Ridge. He was just 36 years old.
Molson was buried at Villers au Bois Station Cemetary near Pas de Calais, France.
In his will was a $75,000 bequest (a present-day value of about $1.49 million) for the completed construction of the football stadium, which had opened without stands on Oct. 22, 1915. The University's board of governors renamed the facility as Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25, 1919 in honour of this fallen war hero.
Molson also bequeathed sums of money to various individuals and charitable donations to many organizations. Among these, the Montreal General Hospital ($10,000), the Charity Organization Society in Montreal ($5,000), and the Boys' Home at Shawbridge ($5,000).
He was inducted posthumously to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, and was an inaugural inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Off.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
