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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Iliff, Thomas Charles

Thomas Charles Iliff was born on 14 September 1891 in the RM of Springfield, Selkirk, Manitoba. First born child, his parents Powers Cowley Iliff, who had arrived in Canada from Wales aboard the Circassian 29 June 1885, and Ann Matheson, daughter of William and Christiana Matheson of Springfield, had married in Springfield on 15 October 1890…. Read More »

Burlington, George Franklin (Frank)

Although a birth record was not found, according to a family tree on ancestry.ca, George Franklin Thomas (Frank) Burlington was born on 9 November 1889 in Minnedosa, Manitoba. His father John Charles Burlington, a carpenter, was from Chicago, Illinois while his mother Anne Mary Powell was from Ontario. The couple gave birth to their first… Read More »

Colley, Sydney

Private Sydney Colley enlisted with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion in May 1915. He arrived in France in February 1916 and died four months later at the Battle of Mount Sorrel. Sydney grew up in Yorkshire, England in the parish of Sculcoates, which is now part of the city of Kingston upon Hull. His parents,… Read More »

Byington, Napoleon

Napoleon Byington was born on 10  December 1888 in Portland, Leeds, Ontario. His parents were Napoleon and Ruth (Dunn) Byington who had married in 1871 in South Crosby, Leeds and who farmed in the Portland area. Napoleon and Ruth’s children were David (1872), George (1875-1942), Milton (1877), Charlotte (1880-1973), Johanna (1881-1960), Melbourn (1882-1962), and Napoleon…. Read More »

Keep, Walter

Walter Keep was born on 19 April 1888 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. His father Edward Keep was from Streatham, Surrey while his mother Maria Bristow was from Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire. The couple married on 9 January 1871 in Warlingham, Surrey. Over the years Edward’s occupation was listed as groom or coachman. In the… Read More »

Cummings, Robert Edward

Robert was the 5th  child of 6 born to Walter Cummings and Mary Reid in Merrickville, Ontario.   His siblings were Alfretta, Ernest, Florence, Gertrude and Charles.   His parents were married in  Kempville, Ontario in 1876.   While his father was born in Ontario, Canada he is listed as Dutch heritage and his mother… Read More »

Stephen, George Robert

George Robert Stephen was born on 20 October 1893 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. His parents were Alexander Stephen and Sarah Henrietta Fogg. Siblings included Henrietta ‘Etta’ (b. 1896), Joseph ‘Alex’ (b. 1899) and Emma Jean (b. 1900). George’s mother, Sarah, died in 1910. About this time George was sent to Saskatchewan to work on… Read More »

Woods, Walter Ralph

Walter Ralph Woods was born on 13 January 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His parents Russell Woods, originally from Quebec, and Elizabeth Fletcher,  born in Ontario, had married in Winnipeg on 29 December 1886. By the 1891 Canada census the Woods family was living in Rat Portage East, father Russell’s occupation given… Read More »

Creighton, George Francis

Although he gave his year of birth as 1885 on his recruitment papers, George Francis Creighton was likely born on 2 July 1883 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. A birth record was not found but census documents as well as his obituary and grave marker support that birth year. His father George Creighton,… 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 »