Vernon March (1891–1930) was an English sculptor, renowned for major monuments such as the National War Memorial of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, the Samuel de Champlain Monument in Orillia, Ontario, and the Cape Town Cenotaph, South Africa.

[3][4] By 1901, the March family had moved to Battersea, London, England, where his father worked as a builder's clerk.

[6][7] At the time of the 1911 census, all nine of the March siblings, as yet unmarried, were living together in their 17-roomed home called "Goddendene" in Locksbottom, Farnborough, Kent, England.

[17] Vernon had the distinction of being the youngest exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts, as he was just sixteen when his sculpture of Psyche was exhibited and purchased on the third day of the event in 1907.

It features winged Victory holding a laurel wreath, and standing on top of a globe, a serpent of evil under her feet.

The initial target date for completion of the monument was August 1915, to honour the 300th anniversary of Champlain's visit to Huronia.

[23] On a central pedestal stands a twelve foot tall bronze Champlain in full court attire.

After several years of efforts at obtaining the necessary funding, the design and location of the monument were approved by the local war memorial committee in April 1925.

[24] In 1925, Vernon participated in an open, world-wide competition to design and build the National War Memorial of Canada.

"[25] His design included Liberty holding a torch and winged Victory a laurel wreath, both bronze figures at the top of a granite arch.

In front of the cannon, there are twenty-two bronze soldiers under the arch, representing the branches of the Canadian military forces that existed during the First World War.

The monument, including installation of the bronzes, was finished on 19 October 1938, and landscaping of the area surrounding the memorial commenced.

[25] One of the first monuments on which the March siblings collaborated was the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers South African War Memorial; however, Vernon was still a child when it was built and erected.

A bronze winged Victory stands on top of the globe with her arms raised, a laurel wreath in one hand.

Sydney March was the main sculptor for the monument which is now a tribute to the deceased soldiers of both World War I and II who were employees of the Sydenham South Suburban Gas Works.

[32][33] Most of the members of his family, including his parents George and Elizabeth, were interred at Saint Giles the Abbot Churchyard in Farnborough.

In 1922, his brother Sydney March had sculpted the bronze angel monument that marked the family grave.

The exhibition featured the work of local artists, and included scale models by members of the March family.

[36] A black and white, silent movie filmed in 1924 followed the March artists as they worked in their studios at Goddendene, and has been reproduced by British Pathé.

[26] Annual Armistice Day celebrations also take place at Vernon March's Cenotaph war memorial in Cape Town, South Africa and include wreath-laying ceremonies and processions.

[20] The autumn 2010 edition of The Pot, the annual newsletter of the Huronia Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, revealed that the Champlain Monument at Couchiching Park in Orillia had been the site of a ceremony which took place on 16 October 2010.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first European visitor to the area, a chapter member played Étienne Brûlé.

The day's events were a precursor to more elaborate festivities scheduled for 2015, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Champlain's first visit to Orillia.

The project began in 2007, one of the primary goals being to research the lives of those inscribed on the memorial and disseminate the information.