I was going to say that Joseph Martin Lawson is the most likely choice - a revolver engraved that way
would almost certainly have been presented to the man when he signed up for overseas service
- and of the two C.E.F officers with the name, he was the only Captain at time of attestation.
Your reply (e.g. wishing you knew the location of the church) makes me suspect that you maybe
didn't realize that you can actually click on the little "page symbol" on every man's separate listing
page, to bring up a scan of his actual Attestation/Declaration Paper - so here it is for
Capt. J. M. Lawson:
(Sorry for burning up bandwidth if you did know that ...)
As to the location of the church - note that his religion is stated to be Anglican and his home
was Toronto. So I did a quick search of Toronto churches, and found that there is now one
named "Epiphany and St. Mark's Anglican Church" (which sounds to me like it would be a
"composite name" derived from an amalgamation of two congregations - i.e Epiphany Church
and St. Mark's Church ...) I suppose that you could contact them ask if they have any
congretational records from that time.
However, Library and Archives Canada, where the C.E.F. records are located, doesn't limit you to
looking at the Attestation Paper - if you click on the "
How to consult a file on-site or order
a copy of the complete file" link on his page, it will take you to instructions for
ordering a complete copy of Capt Lawson's C.E.F. personnel file - you'll need to quote the
reference information appearing immediately below his name and rank.
I have done this in relation to a .455 MkVI Webley revolver which I have, engraved on the
backstrap to "Lt. S. W. Seago" - the record is fascinating< From it, I was able to determine
that Samuel William Seago went overseas with the 125th Battalion, but was serving on the
Front with the 116th Battalion when wounded on August 8, 1918. A little bit of Great War
research reveals that was the opening day of the "Amiens Offensive" when the Canadian
Corps, in the center of the Allied line, finally broke the German defenses, and advanced several
miles - further in that single day than any Army (on either side) had managed to
advance since the opposing forces had first dug in to begin the long Trench War. It marked
the beginning of the period described as "Canada's Hundred Days" - in which the Canadian Corps
continued to lead the way in rolling the German Army back until the "Cease Fire". And I also
learned that the 116th Battalion was one of the first units "over the top" on that opening day
.... though apparently Lt. Seago didn't get far.
Fascinating stuff ... and perhaps will convince you that it is well worth it for you to order Captain
Lawson's full service record.
In closing, here is a photo of the Webley I refer to, with some of the documents from
Lt. Seago's file forming the background:
