The Life and Times of Arthur Currie: A Detailed Biography Essay

This essay presents a detailed biography of Arthur Currie, a prominent figure in Canadian history, particularly known for his contributions during the First World War. It explores his early life, including his initial career as a teacher and his subsequent involvement in the Canadian military, where he rose to become the first Canadian commander of the army. The essay also delves into Currie's business ventures, highlighting his success in real estate and the financial challenges he faced. Furthermore, it discusses his social life, marriage, and community involvement, as well as his transition to becoming the vice-chancellor and principal of McGill University. The biography emphasizes Currie's military achievements, his leadership qualities, and his overall impact on Canadian society.

Running head: BIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR CURRIE 1
Biography of Arthur Currie
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BIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR CURRIE 2
Biography of Arthur Currie
Regarding the Canadian history concerning the First World War, Arthur Currie is one
figure that should be commemorated for his contributions to the cause. As a military officer in
the Canadian army, his tactical warfare application helped a lot. Such claims included the bite-
and-hold, trench, as well as the brigade tactics. Arthur was born in Adelaide on the 5th of
December 1897 and met his death on the 30th of November 1933 (Vimy, 2017). While alive, he
was the first Canadian to become Commander of the army. During his time in service, he led his
troop to several victories; most of which were significant. While he was a commander, he also
practised teaching. Later, after his service in the military, Arthur became McGill University’s
vice-chancellor and principle. He served in that position until he met his death in 1933
(Historica, 2017).
Still, on his background, Arthur was the third born son of Jane Patterson and William
Garner Currie. His father; William Garner Currie, migrated from Ireland because of religious
strives. Arthur dreamt of pursuing either medicine or law after conventional schooling, but the
death of his father alongside economic issues forced him to become a teacher instead. In his
early life, Currie worked as a teacher until he joined the Militia of Canadian in 1897. Afterwards,
he also joined the British Columbia Field Artillery Regiment (5th) where he was a part-time
gunner (Boundless, 2017). Due to his dedication and hard work, he was promoted to the corporal
post in 1900. Within no time, he got a work offer as an officer's commission. All this while,
Currie may have suffered from acute financial challenges, but he was still as dedicated as ever.
Most of the time, he ordered military textbooks, regularly practised range-shooting, and attended
martial classes. As a way of appreciating his hard work, Currie got elected as The British
Columbia Rifle Association president. Afterwards, promotions that followed include being the

BIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR CURRIE 3
captain in 1901, then Major in 1906, and later he was the 5th Regiment's, Lieutenant Colonel.
All the same, Arthur was involved in other activities like actively participating in Freemasonry
and being Young Men Liberal Association’s President (Veterans, 2017).
The history of this figure mostly includes his military contributions. However, he also
contributed to the economy of Canada. He was a businessman and a member of several
partnerships. Alongside R.A Power, he joined the real-estate industry and began a business
known as Currie & Power Company. Such was a time when the capital that Currie made proved
that he was becoming financially secure. In 1912, however, the prices of property declined thus,
reducing the value of estates owned by Currie. Such almost made him bankrupt in 1913. Due to
such unfolding events, Arthur was forced to retire from the military. On the contrary, before such
afflictions, Currie made his profits in real-estate through development, subdivision, and sales.
Such was caused by increased inflationary pressure (Espiritedcorps, 2017).
In one of his offices, Currie had his wall covered with maps that supplemented his pitch.
On the maps, specific features on every land parcel were depicted. Because the economy of
Victoria was booming as well as the city being best-lighted, paved, and boulevarded, profits
could be made from buying and selling of land. For example, a suburb could be purchased in
1908 for $300 and sold for approximately $7,000 in 1912. Even the Canadian-Scottish Colonel
known as Hugh Urquhart marvelled at the fact that Currie could roughly net $18,000 on the sales
of property in 1912. According to a historical publication published in 1913, Arthur Currie
owned much property in Victoria and its suburbs. However, he did that while operating in
Douglas Street office premises (CWM, 2017).

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With Currie's growing financial success, his social profile started increasing as well. He
then decided to marry Lillian Warner on the 14th of August 1901. Their married was much
highlighted to the extent that they were covered in social pages of Victorian media. According to
one newspaper – The Colonist, the gown was worn by the bride was described as “handsome”
and made of cream satin. While Daily Times – another newspaper, described the bride as
“extremely pretty.” Most people described the ring presented to the bride as “handsome” and
made of opals and diamonds (Espiritedcorps, 2017). With time, the couple was blessed with
three children with one dying in infancy. The other two were Marjorie – who was born in 1902,
and Garner – born in 1911. Since Currie had a home that was well established and also affluent,
his community profile began to grow. Being a marksman that is gifted, he decided to join the
British Columbia Rifle Association. As described before, he rose to the presidency and held the
same position until war broke in 1914 (Granastein, 2018). In the same situation, he came across
Sam Hughes. Sam was a publisher and a politician who also happened to be the militia’s
fanatical proponent. According to Sam, the ideal warrior was the citizen-soldier. Due to such
convictions, a citizenry organization that promoted martial arts gave Sam the support he required
to join parliament. Afterwards, Sam became the national executive’s most active member.
Currie, through the militia, befriended Garnet - Hughes’s son. However, Garnet was his junior by
four years (CWM, 2017).
The Canadian government offered a lot of support to the citizen-soldier militiaman idea.
Also, the government was thrilled by the idea’s low price. In 1890’s, therefore, the Canadian
militia operated under budget cuts. In 1985, for instance, the government indefinitely cancelled
rural training thus, reducing urban regiments’ income by a third. Such was a way of ensuring that
competence was upheld (Granastein, 2018). The 5th Regiment –based in Victoria and the

BIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR CURRIE 5
Garrison Artillery of Canada were sartorial splendor models that trained on muzzle loaders
which were ordered not to be fired while angry. However, there are other historians like Frank
Underhill that thought that the country did not take the militia seriously. According to Frank, the
militia was undertrained and ill-equipped in a time that technology was quickly catching the pace
and also revolutionizing warfare as an art. Yet, another historian - James Wood, purported that
the militia was not a military occupation but rather, a social occupation (Espiritedcorps, 2017).
According to James, the militia’s martial enthusiasm was outstripped by the expertise they had.
Due to such a reason, James argued that competence in the form of promotion was neglected
(CWM, 2017). During such periods, personal wealth and patronage instead of martial
proficiency determined whether one would advance in the militia. Because Currie was a high
school teacher that was lowly rated, he could neither financially afford nor socially earn
promotion. On the contrary, as soon as Currie ventured into business, his career in the militia
took off. Such was also contributed to by the fact that his influence and income increased. Within
a short while, after he got ill, Currie skipped a rank and became a 2nd lieutenant instead of a
sergeant (Veterans, 2017). Approximately eleven months down the line, he became captain. At
the same time, he was appointed as the Chief Officer of No. 1 Company. His achievements while
he was the CO include winning the Regiment Efficiency Shield for seven years. Two years later,
he became captain. As mentioned before, he ordered military textbooks, regularly practised
range-shooting, and attended military classes most of the time. Apart from that, he was promoted
to Major in 1906. As Major, Currie was second in command (CWM, 2017). Alongside such
achievement was being named CO of Dandy Fifth – this was on the 1st of September 1909. Later,
he became the 5th Regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel while also being involved in activities like
actively participating in Freemasonry and being Young Men Liberal Association’s President all

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at a go (Levine, 2017). At the time when he was 5th Regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel, his unit
excelled. Similarly, he won three Landsdowne Cups, Governor General’s Cup, and two Turnbull
Shields while he was CO of Dandy Fifth. Conclusively, in as much as the general appearance of
Currie (a farm boy from southern Ontario who just earned a 3rd-grade teaching certificate) was
deceiving, he managed to help Canada in countless ways as far as history is concerned. All the
same, he blossomed (Espiritedcorps, 2017).

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Reference
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