He was born in Zephyr, Ontario, the son of George Sharpe, a native of England, and Mary Ann Simpson, a native of Ireland. Sharpe was educated in Uxbridge, at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall, graduating in 1895. In 1903, he married Mabel E. Crosby, a granddaughter of Joseph Gould. Sharpe practised law in Uxbridge and was town solicitor for 10 years.
On the outbreak of the First World War, Sharpe was initially passed over for a command position and was not part of the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force that deployed overseas in 1914. Sharpe considered his past conflict with Minister Sam Hughes as the reason he was overlooked, and expressed concern that this would affect his reputation.
In November 1915, Sharpe was authorized by Hughes to raise a battalion from Ontario County. This led to the creation of the 116th Battalion (Ontario County), CEF, with many members drawn from the 34th Regiment and several personally recruited by Sharpe.
Sharpe used his political influence to ensure that the 116th was kept together as a unit in Europe and not dispersed to reinforce existing units.[1] The Battalion arrived in England in the summer of 1916 and, following training, was deployed to the front in France in February 1917.
Sharpe began to struggle with the impact of his military service. In October 1917, he wrote to Muriel Hutchison, the widow of Lieutenant Thomas Hutchison. Sharpe had served with Hutchison in the 34th Regiment before the war, and was present when he was injured by a shell blast, administering first aid to him. In his letter to Muriel, Sharpe said:
It is awful to contemplate the misery and suffering in this old world, and were I to allow myself to ponder over what I have seen and what I have suffered thro [sic] the loss of the bravest and best in the world, I would soon become absolutely incapable of 'carrying on'.
In December 1917, Sharpe returned to England for a senior officer's course. Early the next year he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the 1918 New Year Honours. A short time after receiving the award, he was hospitalized with a diagnosis of "general debility".
In May 1918, Sharpe returned to Canada on convalescent leave. En route back to Uxbridge with his wife, he was hospitalized at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital for nervous shock.
Death and legacy
On May 25, 1918, Sharpe died by suicide, jumping from a hospital window to his death. Due to the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness, Sharpe's history was largely forgotten in Canada for almost 100 years.
In 2014, Member of Parliament Erin O'Toole and Senator Romeo Dallaire inaugurated the Lieutenant Colonel Sam Sharpe Veterans Mental Health breakfast to showcase veterans’ mental health issues and to recognize those "who have sought help for their operational stress injuries and are leading productive lives."
In 2016, a bronze plaque including the likeness of Sharpe by sculptor Tyler Briley acknowledging Sharpe's service as an MP and soldier was commissioned for installation in the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament.[2] The plaque was unveiled in the foyer of the House of Commons on November 7, 2018.[3]
In 2019, the Durham Regional Courthouse was renamed the Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel S. Sharpe, DSO, MP Courthouse.[1]
