Sergeants' Mess members in front of the Burns monument, Stanley Park, 1929. There is a monkey tree in the background. This monument in Vancouver's Stanley Park was unveiled in 1928 by The Honourable Ramsay MacDonald, ex-Prime Minister of Britain. It was the first statue erected in Vancouver. It is one of several monuments to Robert Burns in Canada, all of them replicas of the original by George Lawson, which is found in Ayr, Scotland, which was erected in 1891. In February 1924, inspired by a recently published critical analysis of Burns’ work, the Vancouver Burns Fellowship was formed to encourage the study of Burns’ life and works and the singing of his songs. The group also hoped to erect a statue of Burns in Stanley Park. The unveiling ceremony on August 25, 1928 featured music by the pipe band of the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders and the Vancouver Scottish Choir. The proceedings were broadcast using loudspeakers so that the crowd, estimated at 10-12,000, could hear the program. Motion picture films were made of the ceremony and later shown in theatres in Vancouver and across Canada. A court stenographer created a verbatim record of the proceedings, which is reproduced in Vancouver’s Tribute to Burns.