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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Millar, Kenneth

Kenneth Millar was an accomplished bagpiper and while only in Keewatin for a short time before enlisting, he was already a familiar face and sound in the community. Millar, born 22 June 1882 in Inverness, Scotland to Kenneth and Margaret Millar, had arrived in Canada on May 4 of 1914 bound for Keewatin with $25… Read More »

Good, John Brady

John Brady Good was born on 8 July 1876 in Barrie, Ontario. His parents were Thomas Leslie Good and Sarah McCreight. Siblings included: Arthur (b. 1869), Joseph (b. 1873), Margaret (b. 1874) and Jeremiah (b. 1887). While he was in the Barrie area, John served for 3 years with the 35th Battalion. By 1901 John… Read More »

Kelly, William Albert

William Albert Kelly was born on 3 July 1898 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His father James Kelly was the son of Irish immigrants that had settled in the village of Brussels, Huron, Ontario. His mother Martha Mathieson was born in Admaston, a small community near Renfrew, Ontario. Martha was the… Read More »

Dawson, Evans William

Sapper Evans William Dawson was called up for service in March 1918, at age 27. He served in France with the Canadian Engineers in the last months of the war, returning to Canada in May 1919. Evans was the son of Albert Dawson and Sedith Morningstar of Dawn Township, Lambton County, Ontario. His parents were… Read More »

Thompson, William Stanley

Sapper William Stanley Thompson was living in the state of Washington when the war started. He enlisted at a British recruiting centre in 1917 and served with the Royal Engineers in the UK, Salonica and Russia, returning home in October 1919. William was the youngest son of Benjamin Franklin ‘Frank’ Thompson and Augusta Bohn. He… Read More »

Mitchell, William

William Mitchell  was born  08 August 1885 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. His parents were George Mitchell and Margaret Begg. He had four sisters – Jessie Catherine (b. 1873, m. John Duncan McKenzie), Florence (b. 1877, m. Wilkie James Brown), Minota (b. 1883, m. Edwin Stone) and Marian (b. 1887, m. George Carmichael Cooke). William… Read More »

Hulmes, William

The Hulmes family was from Manchester, Lancashire in England where parents Thomas and Martha (Pennington) had married on 24 March 1883. Thomas was listed as a coal wharfinger (takes custody of and is responsible for goods delivered to the wharf) in the 1891 census and as a coal dealer in later censuses. Children born to… Read More »

Heath, George

Private George Heath was about 50 years old when he enlisted in August 1915. He served for 15 months in Canada and England before getting discharged due to being overage and medically unfit for war service. George was born in Portland, Leeds County, Ontario, the son of Ebenezer Heath, a cooper, and Maria Shaver. Ebenezer… Read More »

McMurdie, Joseph Francis

Joseph Francis McMurdie was born on 19 March 1891 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. Born in Lambeth, Surrey, England, father Charles McMurdie had immigrated to Canada around 1870 while his mother Catherine (née Sullivan) McMurdie was from Peterborough, Ontario. Although Charles was found in the Rat Portage area for the 1881 Canada census,… Read More »

Mercier, Frank (Francois) Alfred

Private Frank (Francois) Alfred Mercier was the son of Francois and Octavie Mercier. Francois was born in Quebec and Octavie most likely in Manitoba. By 1890 they were married and living in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. They had a daughter, Marie, who was born in Minnesota around 1889. When the 1895 Minnesota state census was taken… Read More »