Morley Fountain Verity MC

Rank:

Major

Unit at enlistment:

125th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Yes

Cemetery:

Farringdon Cemetery, Brantford, Ontario

Awards or decorations:

Military Cross

Commemorated at:

Colborne Street Methodist Church

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Brant

Birth city:

Brantford, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

73 Charlotte Street, Brantford, Ontario

Next of kin address:

73 Charlotte Street, Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Mechanical Engineer

Employer:

Verity Plow Co.

Religious denominations:

Methodist

Marital status:

Married

Age at enlistment:

Gallantry medals:

Yes

Letters and documents

London Gazette: 31043
Date: December 2, 1918
Honour or Award: Military Cross
Authority: C.O. 1930, November 3, 1918
Name: Morley Fountain Verity (Captain)
Unit: 54th Battalion

Details: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer led his platoon, to the attack against strong opposition, which caused many casualties. In spite of this, he drove the enemy back, capturing a machine gun and a supply of bombs He then organized his new posts, which he held against five .determined counter-attacks. It was undoubtedly due to his leadership that the position was successfully taken and held.

BX October 30, 1918

Military Cross for Lieutenant Morley Fountain Verity

Word has been received that Lieutenant Morley Verity, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Verity of this city, has been awarded the Military Cross for gallant conduct in action. Lieut. Verity has arrived in England and has received his decoration for the King.

BX October 17, 1919

Decorations to be Presented by the Prince – Local Officers and men Will be Invested During Visit of Heir to the Throne – Royal Standard

City Clerk Leonard is a very busy man these days. Almost the entire program from the reception of the Prince of Wales is in his hands, and he is busy even to the point of looking after the decorations at the armories. This morning he received a letter from the secretary of Colonel Henderson, congratulating him on the complete arrangements made in this city, which have been approved by Col. Henderson, who is the military secretary to the Prince.

The address from the city to His Royal Highness is now being engrossed by Mr. David Husband. There will be only one address presented, as far as the city is concerned, the I.O.D.E., making a presentation to the Prince at the Bell Memorial.

Veterans Investiture

The following are those who will receive decorations from His Royal Highness:

Military Cross –Lieut. Charles Denton Smith; Lieut. Howard Kenneth Wood; Lieut. Morley F. Verity.

Distinguished Flying Cross – Captain Harold Albert White

Military Medal – Pte. William Bowden, Pte. Richard George Chinery; Gnr. Vernon Arthur Curtis, Sergt. William John Davey, Corp. Fred Hara McDougald, Pte. Ernest Baden Powell Davies (Deceased), to be presented to Mrs. L. Davies.

The Royal Standard

The Royal Standard of the Prince of Wales has been received by Lieut.-Col. F.A. Howard, commanding the Dufferin Rifles. This flag will be flown from the armories during the Prince’s stay in the city on Monday next. The flag will be unfurled as the prince arrives at 1.30 and will be lowered again on his departure. The flag is 6 x 12 feet, and is the first one to be flown here.

An appeal was made by the civic authorities today for wheel traffic to refrain from using the streets on the route of march, and to refrain from parking on those streets and also that citizens keep to the curb while the procession is passing.

BX August 4, 1967

Morley F. Verity, Industrialist, Military Cross Holder, Dies at 73

Morley F. Verity, 73 of Morland Farm, R4 Brantford died in the Brantford General Hospital Thursday.

Born in Brantford, he was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. William J. Verity.

When he retired in 1960 he had been with the Massy-Ferguson Company 50 years, the last 15 as its vice-president.

Grandson of W.H. Verity, founder of the Verity Plow Company in Exeter, which later moved to Brantford, he joined the organization in 1911 as an apprentice after the company had become associated with Massy-Harris Company Limited in 1914-1915, he was superintendent of the Verity Plow Company in Brantford.

From 1919 to 1939 he was works manager of Massey-Harris in Brantford and in 1944 was appointed vice-president of all Massy-Harris Companies in Canada.

From 1939 to 1944 Mr. Verity was in Toronto as general works manager of Massey-Harris and was in charge of armament and munitions manufacture.

He received his Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from the University of Toronto.

During the First World War he served as lieutenant in the 125th Infantry Battalion. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in the field in September, 1918.

Mr. Verity was chairman of the board of Crown Electrical Manufacturing Limited in Brantford and president of the Schubert Choir and of the Industrial Accident Prevention Associations in 1939. He was an honorary member of IAPA.

He was director of Dominion Foundries and Steel Limited and a member of the Quarter Century Club at M.F. and the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, of the American Society for Metals, Phi Delta Theta and Grace Anglican Church.

He is survived by his second wife, the former Ruth Johnson. He was predeceased by his first wife, the former Muriel Heaven, in 1950 and by a sister Edna Hitchon, in 1957.

Also surviving: a daughter, Mrs. Eric (Betty) Muir of Port Credit; a step-daughter Mrs. Roger (Kay) Briggs of Wales; two sons, W. John of Brantford and David Morley of Burlington; two sisters, Mrs. George F. (Millicent) Foulds of Paris and Mrs. Donald B. (Helen) Mulholland of Toronto; seven grandchildren.

He will rest at his residence from Sunday noon. Funeral service will be at Grace Church at 2 p.m. Monday. Interment will be at Farringdon Burial Ground.

BX August 5, 1967

Morley F. Verity

A link with Brantford’s leading industry going back half a century is broken by the death of Morley F. Verity. For 50 of the more than 80 years of farm implement manufacture locally he was active in it, carrying on a family tradition whose beginnings are part of Brantford’s early history.

In a demanding life as an industrialist he found time for a variety of interests, and served his country with distinction, first on the battlefield and from 1939 to 1944 as head of armaments production for Massey-Harris. A wide circle of professional and private friends will remember him for sterling qualities modestly worn.