THE DEATH PENNY

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While researching the grave locations of United Empire Loyalists in Hants County, Nova Scotia, I discovered an interesting one that led me to learn about the so - called Death Penny,  given to the parents of a relative of mine.  The Death Penny was a circular bronze commemorative disk issued to the families of British and Commonwealth service personnel who died as a result of service during the First World War.   Over one million of these were produced, including 600 to women. 


Headstone for Private Arthur E. Brison

The headstone had a space at the top on which it appeared something had been removed.  It was the memorial to Private Arthur E. Brison located in the Center Burlington Cemetery in Hants County.  He was a descendant of Christopher Wilson, a United Empire Loyalist, who received a land grant in Annapolis County in 1784.   The petition for the land was submitted by Major John Milledge, formerly a prominent officer in the 1st Battaltion of the New Jersey Volunteers   I had seen a stone like this for  Private William Edward Bugen in Hillcrest Cemetery, Londonderry, Nova Scotia, which had a Death Penny in the space.


Memorial for Private William Edward Bugden


Death Penny



I showed this information to my father, who recalled that when he was a young boy living in his parents' house in Toronto, a Death Penny had hung on a wall in the living room.  It was for his uncle Private William Clarke , who was killed on July 1, 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, in France.  He has no known grave, and his name appears on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing in France with 72 thousand others. This encouraged my interest to learn more.  After further research, the Death Penny and the medals of my Grand Uncle are now in a frame on a wall in my home. 


Death Penny for my Grand Uncle



Further Reference:

1784 Memorial of Major John Milledge with Nova Scotia Archives, accessed October 8, 2026

Memorial Plaque of World War I accessed October 8, 2026


 


/ Descendant of Private James Humphrey of Jessup's Rangers in American Revolution, Grandson of Ulsterman who served with Ulster Division in World War I

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