Kenora Great War Project

 

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The People

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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.

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Stanford, Charles Robert

Charles Robert Stanford was born on 12 February 1881 in Hackney, London, England. His father Joseph Stanford, a bootmaker, was from Norwich in Norfolk while his mother Sarah was from Exeter in Devon. Over the years the family lived in a number of London communities, Shoreditch, Bethal Green, Hoxton, Hackney, and Islington. Nine children were… Read More »

Whitehurst, Clifford Gerald

Clifford Gerald (Gerry) Whitehurst was born on 25 March 1898 in Fort William, Ontario. His father John (Jack) Whitehurst was from Birmingham, England and had immigrated to Canada in 1888 to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway as a wiper. Lodging in those early years at the Queen’s Hotel in the Westport area of Fort… Read More »

Ramsay, Andrew

Private Andrew Ramsay enlisted in November 1916 and served in France for a year with the Canadian Forestry Corps. He returned to Canada in May 1919. Andrew was born on 5 May 1889 in the town of Rat Portage, Ontario. His parents, Andrew Ramsay Sr. and Janet Closs, were both born in Scotland. They were… Read More »

Begg, Duncan

Duncan Begg was born on 19 July 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. He was the son of James and Jemina (née Muggaberg) Begg. Originally from Selkirk/St Andrews, Manitoba, the couple had married 27 August 1891 in Rat Portage. James had  moved to the area in 1888, employed by the Hudson’s Bay… Read More »

Poole, John

During the First World War more than 11,000 employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company enlisted for service and 1,116 of them gave their lives. Sapper John Poole was working as a locomotive fireman for the CPR in Kenora, Ontario when he signed up in February 1916. He arrived in France later that year and… Read More »

Ingram, Edward Harold

Bombardier Edward Harold Ingram enlisted in June 1915, at age 19. He served with the Canadian Field Artillery in Canada, Great Britain, France, Belgium and north Russia and returned home in July 1919. Edward Harold, known as Harold, was the only son of Henry Lloyd Ingram and Mary Elizabeth Parker. He was born on 25… Read More »

Dawson, Arthur Ernest

Private Arthur Ernest Dawson signed up with an ambulance unit in April 1916 and served for eight months in France and Belgium. He was invalided home due to illness in October 1917. Arthur was born on 19 September 1875 in Norwich, Norfolk, England. His parents were Jonathan William Dawson and Hannah Scatley Hinde. Jonathan and… Read More »

Bjornson, Sigmundur

According to his attestation papers Sigmundur Bjornson was born on 5 June 1889 in Ladfjord, Iceland. (His marriage record listed Hnitborg, Gokururhlid, Iceland as his place of birth while a Keewatin history book gave his date of birth as 1 June 1888.) His parents Bjorn Hannesson and Steinunn Eyriksdottir married in Kirkjubaer I Hroarstunga, Nordur-Mulasysla… Read More »

Crierie, Athol Fraser

Although he gave his birth date as 27 September 1897 and 1898 in Kenora, Ontario on two sets of attestation papers, it is likely that Athol Fraser Crierie was born in 1899 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) as confirmed on his BC death record and entry on findagrave.com. His father was Benjamin Gillespie Fraser… Read More »

Elliott, William Alton

William Alton Elliott was born on 5 February 1897 in Portland, Leeds, Ontario. His parents Archibald ‘Archie’ Elliott and Eliza Jane Trotter were both from farms in the area, marrying on 15 November 1892 in nearby Athens. William had an older sister, Lenna, also born in Portland, and a younger sister Clella born in 1909… Read More »