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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LeBleu, Samuel Jules

Gunner Samuel Jules LeBleu was the son of Jean (John) LeBleu and Marie Louise LaSalle. Jean and Louise were both born in Quebec, Jean in Gentilly and Louise in Yamaska. They were married in 1873 in Silver Islet in the district of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Silver Islet was a small community on Lake Superior across… Read More »

Tennant, Francis Lambert

Private Francis Lambert Tennant enlisted in December 1914 and served for one year in France and Belgium and two and a half years in Canada and the UK. Francis was the son of George Tennant and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Lambert. He was the second of at least six children: Herbert (1889), Francis (1892), Janet (1894),… Read More »

Sinclair, Leslie Foster John

Kenora’s David George Sinclair and his wife Eliza Ann Bock had four sons that served in WW1 – Leslie Foster John (born 1887), Levi Wilmot (born 1893), Roy Frederick (born 1895) and Benjamin Elton (born 1899). The family arrived in Rat Portage (Kenora) in 1903 and settled north of town in the rural area of… Read More »

Boyer, John

The Kenora Miner and News published a note on 3 March 1918 that John Boyer, brother of William Boyer of Kenora, who had enlisted with the 107th Pioneer Battalion was among the recent returned men. His identity could not be confirmed.  

Morton, Robert Paterson

Robert Paterson Morton was born on 1 May 1891 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His father William was from Lesmahagow while his mother Helen (née Paterson) was from Tollcross, both in Lanarkshire. The couple had married in 1872 in Cadder. An engine fitter by trade, William and Helen  moved to nearby Glasgow soon after their marriage… Read More »

McLachlan, John William

John William McLachlan was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, baptized on 12 June 1889 and birth registered during the 3rd quarter of the year. His parents John McLachlan and Maria Clarke were both from Liverpool and had married the previous year. By the 1891 census John, Maria, and young John were living with Maria’s brother… Read More »

Edgar, Charles

According to his attestation papers, Charles Edgar was born on 20 February 1875 in Glasgow, Scotland. With occupation given as telegraph linesman and a sister-in-law back in Scotland as next of kin, Charles signed his attestation papers in Kenora, Ontario on 3 June 1915. He listed 9 years previous military experience with the 1st Royal… Read More »

Brash, Frederick William

Private Frederick William Brash was called up for service in February 1918, at age 21. He served for a year in Canada. Frederick was born on 14 March 1896 in Thessalon, District of Algoma, Ontario. His parents were Robert Alexander Brash, a lumberman, and his second wife Hannah Copeland. Robert had a son, Robert Earl,… Read More »

Carlson, Charles Arthur

Charles Arthur Carlson was born on 11 September 1892 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His father John Carlson, a carpenter, immigrated to Canada from Sweden around 1880 while his mother Mary Chemalska was from Poland or Germany, her arrival listed as 1887 in the 1901 Canada census. Other children born to… Read More »

Pyott, Robert

Robert Pyott was born on 11 January 1877 in Rattray, Perthshire, Scotland. His parents Robert Pyott, a flax mill foreman, and Christina Rae had married in 1870 in Rattray. Robert had three older siblings, Ann, William, and Catherine (Kate), and a one younger sibling, Christina. His mother died in 1885 and later that year his… Read More »