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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Robertson, Stuart

Private Stuart Robertson enlisted underage in September 1914, when he was 17 years old. He survived four years of war and returned to Canada in May 1919. Stuart was the son of William Robertson and Bertha Louisa Thompson of Vancouver, British Columbia. William was born in Cupar, County of Fife, Scotland and Bertha in Lancashire,… Read More »

Hourie, Roderick

Roderick Hourie was born on 18 March 1893 in St Clements, Manitoba. His parents were George and Mary Ellen (née Calder) Hourie. The couple had married 17 February 1892 in Selkirk, Manitoba. Roderick had four known siblings, Mabel, Florence, George, and Henry who died in infancy. The 1901 Canada census found the family living in… Read More »

Parmeter, Frank Richard

Frank Richard (Dick) Parmeter was born on 18 May 1891 in Kington, Herefordshire, England. His father Frank William Parmeter was from Bletchy in the district of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire where his parents, classified as hotel keepers on census documents, operated the Station Hotel and Refreshment Room. His mother Juliet Emma Chapman was from Uppingham,… Read More »

Reid, Elmer Henry

Elmer Henry Reid was born on 25 March 1892 in Poplar Point in the RM of Woodlands in south central Manitoba. His parents, both from southern Ontario, were William Henry Reid and Margaret Melissa Darling. The couple had married on 2 May 1888 in Smith Township in the Peterborough District. After giving birth to son… Read More »

Johnston, Thomas

Private Thomas Johnston enlisted twice, in June 1915 and May 1916. He served for three and a half years in Canada, Great Britain and France and returned home in December 1919. Thomas was the son of Alexander Henry Johnston and Annabella McDougall of Castleford, Renfrew County, Ontario. From early census records and his death registration… Read More »

Hansen, Hans Edward

Private Hans Edward Hansen was one of four brothers from Keewatin, Ontario who served in the First World War. Hans was the oldest son of Nils (Nels) Julius Hansen and his wife Ellen Nilson. Nils and Ellen both immigrated to Canada in the 1880s, Nils from Norway and Ellen from Sweden. They were married in… Read More »

Burgess, William Cowie

William Cowie Burgess was born on 11 January 1886 in Buckie, Banffshire, Scotland. His father George Burgess was from Rathven, and his mother Jane Ingram was from Fordyce, both in Banffshire. The couple married in 1871 in Fordyce. The 1881 Scotland census found George working as a van driver and at the time of William’s… Read More »

Richards, William Ernest

Lance Corporal William Ernest Richards joined the 52nd Battalion in August 1915 and served overseas in England, France and Belgium, returning to Canada in March 1919. William was the son of William Thomas Richards and Mary Saunders of Kenora, Ontario. William Thomas was born in Pembroke, Ontario and his wife was from Timmins. They had… Read More »

Sawkins, Frederick Frank

Frederick Frank (Fred) Sawkins was born on 11 April 1889 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. His father William Henry Sawkins was born in St George, London while his mother Amelia Mary Clarke was from Upton, Worcestershire. The couple married during the last quarter of 1882 in the Registration District of King’s Norton, Worcestershire. Their first two… Read More »

Gibson, Alexander

Birth date and location: Alexander Gibson was born  in his parents’ home  on an autumn morning, September 7, 1885 in Newton, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland.   He was the second child of Alexander Gibson, a Journeyman Currier  and Agnes Crawford  Miller. Agnes and Alexander  were married November 10, 1882, in Agnes’s hometown of Dailly, Alexander.  In… Read More »