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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Baker, Claude Cleveland

Claude Cleveland Baker was born on 29 June 1881 in Athol, Cumberland in Nova Scotia. His parents Hance Wilson Baker and Angelina Harriet Cleveland had married in 1860 and farmed in the Maccan district in Cumberland. Known children born to the couple were Frank Benton (abt 1862), Florence May (1864), Emma (abt 1865), Harry Wilson… Read More »

Poirier, Joseph Alfred Cyprion

Joseph Alfred Cyprien (Joe) Poirier was born on 18 March 1889, birth registered in the RM of Cartier, Manitoba. His parents, Alfred Alphonse (Frederick/Fred) Poirier and Marie Helene Bernadette Brulé were both from Quebec. The family farmed in southeastern Manitoba, with Joe in later life giving his place of birth as St Agathe. For the… Read More »

Duncan, Horatio Nelson

Horatio Nelson Duncan was listed as a teamster in the Kenora area when he enlisted signing his attestation papers in Fort Frances, Ontario on 28 July 1915. His previous employment was as a delivery/salesman for R. W. Ferrier’s grocery business. His parents Robert Ainsley Duncan and Elizabeth A. McFee moved west to the rural district… Read More »

Brown, Alexander McEachran

Alexander McEachran Brown was known as ‘Sandy’ to a host of friends in Kenora.  He was  born on February 8 in either  1867 (as in his obituary and on his  tombstone) or 1876 (as recorded on his attestation papers).  Many men, younger or older didn’t give their true age for ‘fear’ of being rejected to… Read More »

Dawson, Ernest Jonathan

Private Ernest Jonathan Dawson was 18 years old when he arrived in France in February 1916. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Mount Sorrel and after spending a year in hospitals in England he was invalided to Canada in June 1917. Ernest was the oldest son of Arthur Ernest Dawson and Edith Mabel… Read More »

Devlin, Percy Clarence

Private Percy Clarence Devlin enlisted in January 1918 and served for sixteen months with the Canadian Forestry Corps in England. Percy was the oldest son of John Allan Devlin and Isabella Jane Morris. John and Isabella were both born in Beckwith Township, Lanark County, Ontario and they were married there in January 1892. John was… Read More »

Sawkins, Ernest Harold

Ernest Harold Sawkins, more commonly known as Harold,  was born on 18 January 1894 in Walsall, Staffordshire, 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,… Read More »

Drewry, William Starkey

Captain William Starkey Drewry spent more than a year overseas with the 61st and 10th Battalions. After being invalided back to Canada in 1917 he served as a recruitment officer in the U.S. William grew up in a prominent and wealthy family in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, Edward Lancaster Drewry, was originally from London, England…. Read More »

Murgatroyd, Bertram

Bertram Murgatroyd was born on 22 December 1896 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. His parents were Benjamin John Murgatroyd and Harriet Ann Taylor. Siblings included Jessie May (b. 1894), Sydney (1898-1960), Harriet Edith (1904-1982) and Benjamin Edwin James (1908-1967). Bertram’s father, Benjamin Sr., worked for the railroad. When he married in 1894 he was a… Read More »

Makin, Edward B.

Edward B. Makin was the youngest son of John Makin and Elizabeth Ann Green.  He was baptized on 01 July 1894 in Christ Church, Chadderton, Lancashire, England. Siblings included Margaret (b. 1882), William (b. 1885), Ruth (b. 1889) and James (b. 1893).  Edward’s father, John, was a bricklayer.  In the 1911 England Census the family… Read More »