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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Davidson, Raymond Glenn

Raymond Glenn Davidson (known as Glenn) was born on 16 March 1896 in Brighton, Ontario.  He was the son of farmer David R. Davidson and Addie May Glenn. His siblings included sister Margery (born 1900) and brother Morley (born 1902). Glenn was a medical school student at Queen’s University when he enlisted with the Canadian… Read More »

Wood, John Ernest

Private John Ernest Wood enlisted in May 1915 and arrived in France about eight months later. He died of wounds as a prisoner of war in April 1916, at age 23. John was the only son of John Walton Wood and Bridget Carmody of Nelson, British Columbia. John Walton and Bridget were both born in… Read More »

Palmer, Peter

Sapper Peter Palmer was living in or near Keewatin, Ontario when he was called up under the Military Service Act on 11 November 1917. He had failed to register as required and he was classed as a Defaulter. He was probably working for the Keewatin Lumber Company as that was the address he gave after… Read More »

Mair, William Rufus

William Rufus Mair was born on 19 December 1879 in the Byron area of Westminster Township in Middlesex, Ontario where his family farmed. He was the first born child of Andrew Mair and Sarah Ann Mackey, his parents marrying on 25 December 1877 in Westminster. Other children born to the family were Norman Sylvester (1881),… Read More »

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 »

Cain, Alice Louise

Alice Louise Cain was born on 4 December 1886 in Douglas, Isle of Man. Her father Robert Edward Cain was from Douglas while her mother Anna Scadden was from Wirral in Cheshire. The couple married on 23 March 1875 in Liverpool. Over the years Robert’s occupation was given as joiner, builder, and contractor. The family… Read More »

Torrance, Charles William

Charles William Torrance was born on 8 July 1894 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario.  His parents William Torrance and Sophia Johnston were both from the Ottawa area, William from Ashton and Sophia from Gloucester. At the time of their marriage in 1879 in Ottawa William was working as a carpenter. Children… Read More »

Dewar, Donald Alexander

Private Donald Alexander Dewar enlisted in the summer of 1915 and served in France with the 19th Infantry Battalion and the Canadian Engineers. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Hill 70 and invalided back to Canada in November 1917. Donald was the only child of James Dewar and Jessie McKeracher of Winchester, Dundas… Read More »

Lake, James Alfred

James Alfred Lake was born on 13 January 1873 in Blairton, Peterborough County, Ontario. His father was Wellington Lake who was from Sidney in Hastings County while his mother Ellen Simpson was from Scotland. By the time of the 1861 census the couple was married with one son, John Bidwell, and living in Sidney. By… Read More »

Ramsay, Alexander Kelly

Alexander Kelly Ramsay was born on 1 September 1894 in Maybole, Ayrshire in Scotland. His father James Ramsay, a shoemaker, was from Kirkmichael, Ayr, while his mother Margaret Kelly was from Maybole where the couple had married on 14 June 1889. Alex had two older siblings, Joanna (1890) and William (1892) and younger sisters Agnes… Read More »