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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Chapman, William James

William James Chapman was born on 01 November 1864 in Belfast, Ireland. He was the oldest son of Benjamin Chapman and Maria Chew. In 1866 the Chapman family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto where Benjamin practiced his trade of watchmaker and jeweler. Other children in the family were Elizabeth, Charles, Julia, Edward and… Read More »

Weir, George Patrick

George Patrick Weir was born on 9 August 1890 in Fergus, Ontario. His father William Anderson Weir was from Glasgow, Scotland and had immigrated to Canada in 1883. His mother Josephine Van Felson was born in Quebec City where the couple married in 1889. The marriage registration gave William’s occupation as employee of the Imperial… Read More »

Harkins, Alexander

Alexander Harkins was born on 8 July 1898 in Cloquet, Minnesota, USA. His father Joseph Patrick Harkins was from Quebec City and had moved to Keewatin in northwestern Ontario (near Kenora) to work in the lumbering/sawmill industry. His mother Sarah Stewart was from Walkerton, Ontario. The couple married in Keewatin in 1888 and gave birth… Read More »

Cameron, Ronald

Private Ronald Cameron enlisted in Kenora, Ontario in March 1916. He was wounded at the Somme that fall while serving with the 16th Battalion, and he was invalided back to Canada in March 1917. Ronald (aka Ranald) was born on 21 September 1880 in Alexandria, Lochiel Township, Glengarry County, Ontario. His parents, Duncan Cameron and… Read More »

Bunting, Joseph Robert

Private Joseph Robert Bunting was called up in January 1918 and he served in France with the 72nd Battalion. He was wounded twice but he survived the war and returned home in January 1919. Joseph Robert was the youngest son of Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Bunting of North Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents were both… 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 »

Slater, Henry Carl

Private Henry Carl Slater, usually known as Carl, was the son of George Peter Slater and Ruth Maria Rasmussen. He was born on 27 February 1881 and he had at least three brothers and three sisters: Alfred James, Angelique, Rupert, John Stanley, Jemima Irene and Rita Eileen. His parents farmed in the Tyndall/St. Clements area… Read More »

Johnston, Alexander Brown

Date and Location of birth: Alexander Brown Johnston was born June 1, 1887, Charlestown, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. He was the second of seven sons born to David and Agnes Johnston. David (born 1863, Death Fife, Scotland) and Agnes Keir Brown (born 1863, Dunfermline) were married in Dunfermline, June, 1883. All their children were born in… Read More »

Sweeney, Thomas

Thomas (Tom) Sweeney was born on 16 July 1896 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, date confirmed by his birth record. Both of his parents Thomas Sweeney and Jane Doughty were born in Ireland, Thomas in Donegal and Jane in Meath. The couple married on 24 January 1892 in Falkirk where Thomas Sr was working as a… Read More »

Dempster, Robert McLay

Robert McLay Dempster was one of two sons of William and Margaret Dempster of Stirling Scotland to enlist during the war. Robert and his brother William came to Canada in 1912 and settled in Keewatin where their uncle James and his wife Anne lived. All the men worked for the Keewatin flour mill, Robert as… Read More »