of Messrs. Peto, Brassey and Betts employed in the construction of the Victoria Bridge A.D.1859." Other cities, including Kingston and Toronto, were anxious to push immigrants on. Whyte recorded seeing one family sheltering under boards by the side of the road and commented that 'there is no means of learning how many of the survivors of so many ordeals were cut off by the inclemency of a Canadian winter'. One immigrant who did survive was the grandfather of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Memorials A national memorial, the Celtic Cross, was unveiled on site on August 15, 1909. Designed by Jeremiah O'Gallagher, Country President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians at the time, the monument is the largest of its kind in North America. In 1974, the government of Canada declared the island a National Historic Site. A memorial was erected on the island in 1997. Timeline of the 1847 crisis This timeline has been derived from Cecil Woodham-Smith's work The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849, first published by Hamish Hamilton in 1962. February On February 19, the medical officer in charge of the quarantine station at Grosse Isle, Dr George M. Douglas, requested £3,000 to assist with an expected influx of Irish immigrants. He was granted £300, a small steamer and permission to hire a sailing vessel for not more than £50. March Quebec citizens petitioned Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to take action in the face of the expected rise in immigration. April The Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners published their seventh report without any mention of the approaching crisis. May Chief Emigration Officer Alexander Carlisle Buchanan failed to report concerns to the Canadian government because it was "not within the control of [his] department". Dr. Douglas, believing 10,600 emigrants had left Britain for Quebec since April 10, requested £150 for a new fever shed. The authorities promised him £135. Preparations were made for 200 invalids. On May 17 the first vessel, the Syria, arrived with 430 fever cases. This was followed by eight more ships a few days later. Dr Douglas wrote that he had 'not a bed to lay [the invalids] on... I never contemplated the possibility of every vessel arriving with fever as they do now'. One week later seventeen more vessels had appeared at Grosse Isle. By this time, 695 people were already in hospital. Only two days afterwards