He had perhaps an even wider acquaintance through his military connections, for his military career was long, distinguished and honorable. He was one of the oldest officers in the volunteer military service in the Dominion and as original member of the Victoria Rifles he rose from the ranks to the command of the regiment and was placed on the list of reserve officers in 1876. He was on active duty during the Fenian raids from 1866 until 1870, was present at Eccles Hill and for his service received a general service medal with two clasps, while his active duty at the time of the Northwest rebellion in 1885 also won him a medal. He was chief transport officer under Colonel Middleton and held a long service decoration and he was a member of the Royal Commission on Canadian War Claims in 1885-6.
Colonel Whitehead was a veteran amateur athlete, was one of the founders of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and its first honorary president. In 1908 he was a member of the Canadian Olympic Games Committee and he was also a director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In Club circles he was long popular and prominent, holding membership in the Mount Royal Club; the St. James Club, of which he served as chairman; the Royal Montreal Golf Club; Forest and Stream Club; Montreal Hunt Club; Montreal Jockey Club; Montreal Curling Club; Montreal Polo Club; St. George Snow Shoe Club; the Isleway Club; the Military Institute; and the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club.
The end came to Colonel Whitehead September 7, 1912. He seemed almost to the last in the prime of life, his fine figure being erect and soldierly, and the years rested lightly upon him. His eye could still sweep down the long lines of the regiment, his step was elastic and he was enjoying life in all the mental riches that follow a career of activity and usefulness. The Victoria Rifles felt great pride in his brilliant record and in that regiment he was an outstanding figure, a symbol of duty well done, while his memory will ever be to them an inspiration for loyalty in the King’s service. In January, 1912, he was the leading figure at the dinner given by the regiment to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its organization. He had been one of the first to spring to the colors when the corps was organized and had carried those colors in many fields. Even as in his youth, ready to fight for his flag, Colonel Whitehead was as willing to go to its defense in later years, when it might have been supposed that the fire of youth had died down. Years rolled onward, changes came and brought with them the boy scout movement. This appealed strongly to his military spirit and he entered heartily into the work of supporting and furthering the cause. Money was needed; he supplied it. He also raised the money for the trip to Europe a few years ago. He had always loved boys, the military had always been dear to him and in the boy scout movement these two were combined.
Col. Whitehead
Colonel Whitehead was a man to whom a worthy appeal was never made in vain. His heart took in a great circle of friends and his purse was open to all calls of charity.
In the field of sport he was well to the front. In early manhood he was an excellent lacrosse player and old timers remember the games in which he participated against the Shamrocks for the Claxton flags in the early ’60s. He was also a splendid sprinter, making a notable record in the hundred-yard dash. This love of sport he retained to the last and he was a life member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, of which he at one time served as president.
Trouble did not pass him by, but through all he was the same kindly, upright gentleman, maintaining a high sense of duty and honor. In 1899 death robbed him of his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Whitehead, daughter of William Newcomb, whom he had married in 1868; and his son, E. A. Whitehead, Jr., died in 1908.
Edward Ashworth Whitehead, Jr., son of Colonel Edward Ashworth Whitehead, was born in Montreal in 1869 and acquired his education in England and in Kingston, Ontario, where he was graduated with honors at the Royal Military College. He was connected with The E. A. Whitehead Company, Limited, and for many years was a special agent for Montreal of the Phoenix Assurance Company, Limited, of London and was as popular in business as he was in social circles.
Mr. Whitehead, Jr., married Miss May Sicotte, a daughter of Victor Benjamin Sicotte, district magistrate at St. Hyacinthe and a granddaughter of Hon. Louis Sicotte, premier of Canada. Three children were born to them: Edward Ashworth, who is the third of the name to continue the business of The E. A. Whitehead Company, Limited; George Victor, a student at Bishop’s College School; and Margaret Whitehead.