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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Bateman, Ralph

Ralph Stanley Bateman was the youngest child of blacksmith Collingwood Bateman and Mary Ann Nicholson.  He was born 21 March 1880 in Goole, Yorkshire, England.  His siblings included: Collingwood, Rebecca, Ada, William G., and Harold S. In 1901 Ralph was still living in Goole, working as a timber merchant clerk.   Then in March 1905… Read More »

Baker, William

William Baker was born on 12 January 1896 in Ontario.  It is believed that his parents were George and Margaret Baker who were living in Toronto with William and his brother, Francis, at the time of the 1901 Canadian Census. His father died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1902. By the 1911 Census, William was the… Read More »

Matchett, Joseph

Private Joseph Matchett was only 15 years old when he enlisted in August 1915. He served in France and Belgium in the last year of the war, returning home in March 1919. Joseph was born on 11 March 1900 in Cambeltown, Argyllshire, Scotland. His parents were Joseph Matchett and Ann McKendrick. When the 1901 census… Read More »

Ans, David Robert

Private David Robert Ans enlisted in April 1916 and served for three years in Canada, Great Britain and France. He returned to Canada in March 1919. David was the son of David Ans Sr. and Harriett Brownrigg of Whitemouth, Manitoba. Harriett was born in Yorkshire, England and came to Canada with her family in the… Read More »

Clark, Charles Alfred

‘The Peterborough Boys’ was a name given to a group of young men from the Peterborough area of England who made their way to live in Kenora.  Many of them were single, working for the railway and living at the Y.M.C.A. in Kenora. They spent countless hours together in their spare time to socialize and… Read More »

Knutsen, Ole Bertin

Ole Bertin Knutsen was born on 4 May 1891 in Gyland, a village in the municipality of Flekkefjord in Vest-Agder county in Norway. He was likely the last born child of parents Knut Eliassen (b 1836) and Joren Larsdatter (b 1841), both from Gyland. Bertin had at least three older brothers, Elias (1875), Ole (1878),… Read More »

Norquay, Donald

Donald Norquay was born on 28 November 1886 in Moose Factory, Ontario. His father Sutherland Norquay was from Walls and Flotta in the Orkney Islands while his mother Elizabeth McBean was from Moose Factory, her father also a Scottish immigrant. As was Elizabeth’s father, it is likely that Sutherland immigrated to Canada/Moose Factory as an… Read More »

Proudlock, Marvel George Chester

According to his British Columbia death record, Marvel George Chester Proudlock was born on 7 September 1902 in Kenora, Ontario. His father Harral Hamilton (Harry) Proudlock was born in 1863 in the Township of Litchfield, Pontiac, Quebec, now known as Campbell’s Bay. A family tree suggests Harry married Sarah (Sadie) Bigelow on 18 January 1887… Read More »

Cottam, James Melville

James Melville was born July 18th, 1889 in Hudely Wood, Middlesex, England to Henry Phillip Cottam (1847-1911) and Bertha Annie (b 1861). He had siblings Harry Guy (b 1882), Phillip Ashley Joy (b 1885), and Algernon Edward (1894). In 1901, the family lived in Hornsey, Middlesex, England, at 4 Glasslyn Road. His father  was a… Read More »