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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Bull, Thomas Richard

Thomas Richard Bull  was  born on 8 February 1888  in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. His parents were John Albert and Emma (née Talbot) Bull who had married during the last quarter of 1881 in Aston, Warwickshire. The family was found in the England 1891 census living in the inner-city of Sparkhill, Birmingham, occupation of John given… Read More »

Thrasher, John Mangan

John Mangan Thrasher was a man who lived in rare company. One of the first to volunteer for service in the Kenora area he served the entire war from the fall of 1914 to the spring of 1919 overseas. He rose through the ranks from Private to Captain, and was one of fewer than 100… Read More »

Locking, Percy Ludwig

According to his Ontario birth record, Percy Ludwig Webb was born on 1 September 1892 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His mother was Annie Adelaide Jones, date and place of her birth unknown with some records indicating that she was born between 1867 and 1870 in England while others in Wales…. Read More »

Olson, August Valfrid Oskar

August Valfrid Oskar Olsson was born on 12 October 1895 in Westland, Skön, Västernorrland, Sweden (spelling of name on birth registration; as many Swedish immigrants did, August gave Sundsvall as his birth place as it was the nearest city to his village of birth). His father August Olsson, born in 1866, was from Klintsjon, Nysätra,… Read More »

Horswill, Alfred Stanley

Acting Sergeant Alfred Stanley Horswill enlisted early in the war and served overseas for four years. He was in Great Britain studying for a commission when the Armistice was signed. Alfred was the son of Algernon Sidney Horswill and Amy Partington of Nelson, British Columbia. Algernon was born in Warwickshire, England and came to Canada… Read More »

Preston, Sidney Johnston Margach

Sidney Johnston Margach Preston was born on 29 August 1893 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His parents Robert Edwin Preston and Anna Margach were both from the Kawartha Lakes area, Robert from Manvers and Anna from Lindsay. The couple married on 15 July 1884 in Port Arthur, Ontario. In 1890 the they moved… Read More »

McLachlan, John William

John William McLachlan was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, baptized on 12 June 1889 and birth registered during the 3rd quarter of the year. His parents John McLachlan and Maria Clarke were both from Liverpool and had married the previous year. By the 1891 census John, Maria, and young John were living with Maria’s brother… Read More »

Cotter, William Thomas

William Thomas (Bill) Cotter was born on 10 December 1887 in Quebec City, date confirmed by his baptism record. Both of his parents, Andrew Cotter and Mary Jane O’Neill, were born in Quebec to Irish immigrants. The couple married on 21 April 1884 in Quebec City. Over the years Andrew worked as a plumber as… Read More »

Mackie, Frederick Thomas

Private Frederick Thomas Mackie was born on 25 August 1875 in the Township of Inverness, Mégantic County, Quebec. His father, Dr. John R. Mackie, a physician, and his mother, Jane Elizabeth Borland, were both born in Quebec. Fred had at least three older siblings: Edith Anna, Arthur Edward and William Burton. Fred was baptized at… Read More »

Bates, James Wesley

James Wesley Bates was born on 26 January 1886 in Penetanguishene, Ontario. His parents were Robert and Cathrine Ann (née Quigley) Bates who had married in 1882 in Orillia. Over the years Robert was involved in the lumbering business. Known children born to the family were Elizabeth Ann (1884, Parry Sound, Ontario), James, Walter (1888,… Read More »