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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Presley, John Arthur

Private John Arthur Presley was born in Clarence Creek, Russell County, Ontario. His parents were Joseph Presley, a farmer, and Jane Conn. Joseph and Jane were both Irish and born in the Clarence Creek area. John grew up there and he was one of at least ten children. At some point he moved west and… Read More »

Chapman, William James

William James Chapman was born on 01 November 1864 in Belfast, Ireland. He was the oldest son of Benjamin Chapman and Maria Chew. In 1866 the Chapman family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto where Benjamin practiced his trade of watchmaker and jeweler. Other children in the family were Elizabeth, Charles, Julia, Edward and… Read More »

Moose, Frederick

Private Frederick Moose enlisted in August 1915 and served in France and Belgium with the 52nd Battalion and the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. He returned to Canada in March 1919. According to his attestation paper, Fred was born on 17 September 1891 in Nelson House, Manitoba. He was working in the Kenora area in northwestern… Read More »

Fortin, Edgar

Private Edgar Fortin enlisted in April 1916, at age 17, and arrived in France four months later. He was killed in November 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele. Edgar was the youngest son of Charles François Fortin and Emilie Jolicouer of Kenora, Ontario. Charles was from the GaspĂ© region in eastern Quebec and Emilie was… Read More »

Gagnon, Adelard

Private Adelard Gagnon was one of three brothers from Keewatin, Ontario who enlisted during the war. He served for a year overseas in the UK and France and returned to Canada in May 1919. Adelard was the son of Joseph Gagnon and Victoria Madore of Keewatin, Ontario. Joseph and Victoria were both born in Quebec…. Read More »

Squire, Job

Although a birth record would be needed to confirm, by most accounts Job Squire was born on 4 February 1880 in Short Heath in the registration district of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire in England. Short Heath is presently a small urban residential area north of the town of Willenhall, nestled in between the urban villages of New… Read More »

McEachern, Daniel Francis

By most accounts Daniel Francis McEachern was born on 27 April 1885 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario although a birth record was not found. His father John McEachern was from Scotland while his mother Margaret McLean was from Nova Scotia. According to a family tree the couple married on 29 August 1869 in… Read More »

Dempster, John Kane

John Kane Dempster was one of four brothers, the sons of John and Catherine (Kane) Dempster, to volunteer for service during the war. John and Catherine brought their family to Canada in 1907 from Glasgow, Scotland where John was a baker. He’d found employment for himself and his older sons at the Lake of the… Read More »

Hulmes, Edward

  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… Read More »