B Trophy - The Royal Caledonian
Trophy (Presented to The Canadian Branch in 1938 by T.
Howard Stewart) During the 1928-29 season, T. Howard Stewart, founder
of Granite Curling Association in 1924, presented a Trophy
for "Island Inter-Club Competition. By1938-39, most
clubs were curling with granites for part of the season, so
the Trophy was renamed the ROYAL CALEDONIAN TROPHY in honour
of the 100th anniversary and became the emblem of the single-rink championship
of the Canadian Branch for Granite curlers.
Originally, in 1916-17, a Consolation competition was established in the
final stage play for rinks losing in the main competition. There
was no trophy for this secondary competition, until the "Lady Gilmore" trophy
was assigned in 1939-40. It previously had been established in 1912-13
for Ladies Curling, then for the Charity Bonspiel from 1920 to 1932.
In 1956, the Royal Caledonian Trophy was amalgamated with the Royal Victoria
Jubilee, and thus two consolation flights were introduced, the "Jubilee" Trophy
for the "A" section, the "Caledonian" for the "B" section and
the "Lady Gilmore" for the "C" section. In 1957, the "Lady
Gilmore" was assigned to a mixed competition and was replaced by the "St.
Lawrence" Trophy. And that's where we are today with the trophies
for the three sections.
This trophy currently resides on the table near the west windows in the
lounge as we were the last to win it. It is engraved with the PCCC as winners
in 1968 and 1992. It does not show the names of the players, only
the club.
Hu Whitehead,
