Charles Adamson (1880 — 13 February 1959) was a Scottish-born Canadian sculptor. Adamson was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland. He served in the

Corps of Canadian Railway Troops The Corps of Canadian Railway Troops were part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during World War I. Although Canadian railway units had been arriving in France since August 1915, it was not until March 1917 that the units were placed under ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His army record shows that he was married with six children and living in Toronto when he enlisted in 1917. He created the sculptures for the tower which was added in 1932 to the

Whitney Block The Whitney Block is a Government of Ontario office building located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located across the street from the Ontario Legislative Building, and contains the offices of the Premier of Ontario and most cabinet ministers ...

government building in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. At the top of the tower there are four female "guardians", while at mid-height there are eight male figures representing occupations: a judge and a professor on the east, a labourer and a miner on the north, a farmer and a lumberjack on the west, and a businessman and a doctor, plus a small boy looking up at the doctor, on the south. He also created the bronze soldier and stone lions for the Sons of England Benefits Society war memorial in Toronto, on

University Avenue A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

at Elm Street. His bust of Scottish painter

William Bradley Lamond William Bradley Lamond RBA (1857–1924) was a Scottish painter, born at Newtyle, Angus. He had no formal art training and worked for the Caledonian Railway company for many years. He initially specialised in portraits and later worked on lands ...

is held in the collection of the

McManus Gallery The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the centre of Dundee, Scotland. The building houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Charles 1880 births 1959 deaths Artists from Dundee Artists from Toronto 20th-century Canadian sculptors British emigrants to Canada