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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Johnston, Alexander Brown

Date and Location of birth: Alexander Brown Johnston was born June 1, 1887, Charlestown, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. He was the second of seven sons born to David and Agnes Johnston. David (born 1863, Death Fife, Scotland) and Agnes Keir Brown (born 1863, Dunfermline) were married in Dunfermline, June, 1883. All their children were born in… Read More »

McPhail, Laughlin Lionel

Private Laughlin Lionel McPhail enlisted in August 1915 and served in France and Belgium with a field ambulance. He was invalided to Canada in June 1917 and discharged as medically unfit the following spring. Lionel was the youngest son of Lachlan Lamont McPhail (MacPhail) and Mary McIntyre of Kenora, Ontario. Lachlan and Mary were both… Read More »

Taylor, Robert James

Born in Keewatin, Ontario, Robert James Taylor was the son of Robert Taylor and Ada Eastwood. Robert Sr. and his wife Ada had six children between 1893 and 1900 but sadly only two of them survived infancy, Robert James (1894) and his sister Ada Rose known as Rosie (1897). Their mother Ada died on 29… Read More »

Iriam, Frank Stanley

When the First World War started Frank Stanley Iriam  was one of the early volunteers, training with the 98th Regiment in his hometown of Kenora, Ontario in August 1914 then enlisting with the 8th Battalion CEF at Valcartier in September. Five months later he arrived in France with his unit and he survived three and… Read More »

Hughes, D

Starting back in August of 1914, the Kenora Miner and News published a number of articles listing the names of volunteers for the 1st Contingent that were on their way to Valcartier in Quebec to enlist. On the list was a fellow by the name of D. Hughes. His identity could not be confirmed.  

O’Neill, Sylvester Joseph

Sergeant Sylvester Joseph O’Neill was born on either 6 or 7 May 1889 in Rat Portage, Ontario. He was baptized on 12 May at the Notre Dame du Portage Roman Catholic Church in Rat Portage. The baptism register records his birth as 6 May but other records have it as 7 May. His parents, John… Read More »

Hewson, Clarence Victor

Clarence Victor Hewson was born on 21 December 1892 in Oakville, Ontario. His parents William Robert Hewson, a flour miller, and Elizabeth Almira Lucas were both from the area, marrying on 5 June 1889 in Oakville. By the time of the 1901 census the family had moved to Thorold, Ontario where son Harold Edward was… Read More »

Belbeck, Orville Leslie

Private Orville Leslie Belbeck enlisted with a field ambulance unit in the spring of 1915 and went overseas that summer. He served in Great Britain for four years, most of that time with the Canadian Army Service Corps. Orville was the only son of Albert Alexander Belbeck and Rebecca Theresa Wilson of Victoria, British Columbia…. Read More »

Hamilton, James

James (Jim) Hamilton was born on 25 April 1901 in the parish of Cambusnethan in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Both of his parents, Alexander Hamilton and Mary Lindsay, were from the area, marrying on 24 June 1892 in Cambusnethan. At the time of the marriage Alexander Sr’s occupation was given as sawmill engine keeper. Jim had… Read More »