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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Billedeau, Hormidas

Born on 2 February 1896 in Keewatin, Ontario and baptized in Kenora, Joseph Hormidas Bilodeau was the first born son of Hormidas Bilodeau/Billedeau (b Beauharnois St Clement, Quebec) and Sarah Pelletier/Pelchie (b Aroostook Junction, Victoria, New Brunswick) who had married 5 November 1893 in Keewatin. The Billedeaus, spelling of surname used most of the time, were… Read More »

Sinclair, Leslie Foster John

Kenora’s David George Sinclair and his wife Eliza Ann Bock had four sons that served in WW1 – Leslie Foster John (born 1887), Levi Wilmot (born 1893), Roy Frederick (born 1895) and Benjamin Elton (born 1899). The family arrived in Rat Portage (Kenora) in 1903 and settled north of town in the rural area of… Read More »

Nycz, Jan

John (Jan) Nycz was born on 21 March 1893 in Poland. While in Poland he married Anna Juzefczyk. Known children born to the couple were Mary, Helen, Josephina, Jennie, John and Nietek. According to his obituary, John served during WW1. He immigrated to Canada in 1929, settling in Kenora where he found work with the… Read More »

Sparks, Robert Henry

Private Robert Henry Sparks enlisted with the 52nd Battalion in May 1915 and served in England, France and Belgium. He was wounded in 1916 at the Battle of Mount Sorrel and spent the rest of the war in the UK and Canada. Robert was the son of Thomas George Sparks (Sparkes) and Eliza Mackler of… Read More »

Baker, Daniel MacTavish

Daniel MacTavish Baker was born on 24 September 1886 in Sydenham Township, Grey, Ontario. His father Wesley Baker was born in nearby St Vincent while his mother Mary MacTavish, daughter of Scottish immigrants, was from Sydenham. With occupation given as yeoman, Wesley and Mary married on 29 May 1882 in Sydenham. They gave birth to… Read More »

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 »

Burriss, Robert Benton

Robert Benton Burriss was born on 24 October 1894 in Bowmanville, Durham, Ontario as supported by his Ontario birth record (Archives of Ontario, MS929, Reel #127). His father Rufus Allan Burriss was from Lewis County in Kentucky while his mother Hester Ann Watts was from near Flemingsburg in Kentucky. The couple married in January of… Read More »

Pearen, William Clarence

William Clarence Pearen was born on 14 August 1895 in Brampton, Ontario. (In early years he went by the name of Clarence while after the war as William.) His parents Joseph William Pearen, a miller, and Annie McCauley married on 21 September 1880 in the Davenport Parsonage in York, Ontario. Children born to the couple… Read More »

Preece, Alfred

Private Alfred Preece was born on 16 October 1894 in Newdale, Manitoba. His birth name was Abraham Alphonse Preece and his parents were Thomas William Preece and Mary Jane Threadkill. Thomas was born in England and immigrated to Canada as a child. Mary was born in Ontario and both of her parents were from England…. Read More »

Conn, William Curle

Private William Curle Conn was called up in December 1917 and served for a short time in the Royal Air Force. He was discharged for medical reasons in July 1918. William was born on 10 March 1890 in the village of Douglas, Manitoba. His parents, Robert Conn and Mary Ellen Curle, were both born in… Read More »