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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Brock, Earl Meadows

Driver Earl Meadows Brock enlisted at age 18 and served in Canada and the UK for just over a year, most of that time with the Canadian Field Artillery. Earl was the son of Robert Meadows Brock and Agnes McKechnie Francis of Kenora, Ontario. Agnes came from a large family in Stirlingshire, Scotland and she… Read More »

Brough, John Alexander

John Alexander Brough was born on 26 February 1896, birth registered in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. His father John Allen Brough was from the Northwest Territories while his mother Harriet Sanderson was from Manitoba. The couple married on 1 February 1889 in Portage la Prairie. Alex had two older siblings, Mary Ann (b 1891) and… Read More »

Major, Edward

Edward Major was born on 21 January 1901 in Northampton, Northamptonshire in England. His father David Major was from Fenny Stratford in Buckinghamshire while his mother Kate Mayfield was from Crewe in Cheshire, Crewe located about 200 kms northwest of Fenny Stratford. David and Kate had married in 1895, marriage registered in the district of… Read More »

McGuffin, Emery Gordon

Emery Gordon McGuffin was born on 22 September 1895 in the Glenella, Manitoba area (birth registered in the RM of Lansdowne). His parents John McGuffin and Ellen Sugden were both from West Nissouri, Middlesex, Ontario as given on their marriage record of 10 April 1888 in nearby Thorndale. Around 1894 John and Ellen moved to… Read More »

Mansfield, Horace

Sapper Horace Mansfield was born in Ireland on 23 November 1895, the son of John and Esther Mansfield of Cork, Cork County. He had at least six older sisters (Evelyn, Amelia, Violet, Jessie, Ethel and Mabel) and an older brother Cecil. The family was living in Cork for both the 1901 and 1911 censuses of… Read More »

Davidson, Gilbert Kerr

Private Gilbert Kerr Davidson was the oldest son of Thomas Henry Davidson and Ellen Jane Webster of Manitou, Manitoba. Thomas and Ellen (Nellie) were both from the township of Chatham in the province of Quebec. By 1891 Thomas was living in the Rat Portage area in northwestern Ontario, where he worked in the lumber industry…. Read More »

Kinney, Thomas James

Thomas was the son of Lea (Villeneuve) and Joseph Kinney and was born in Keewatin in 1898. He grew up in a large family of 2 sisters and 4 brothers including two who also saw service in WW1. Before recruitment, he worked as a call boy with the CPR.  To be old enough to enlist,… Read More »

Baker, Ernest Roland

Sergeant Ernest Roland Baker enlisted in January 1916 and served in France with the 44th Battalion. He was wounded in June 1917 and spent the rest of the war in Great Britain, returning to Canada in February 1919. Ernest was the son of George Baker and Ann Jane Watts of London, England. Ann was born… Read More »

Cromwell, Louis Leo

Private Louis Leo Cromwell enlisted in May 1915 and served overseas for three years. He suffered from gas poisoning and illness but he survived the war and returned to Canada in December 1918. Louis was the son of William Wellington Cromwell and Annie Ellena Hopf of Keewatin, Ontario. William was a cooper like his father… Read More »

Guernsey, William

William Guernsey was born on 31 January 1889 in Stuartburn, Manitoba. His parents were William Robert Guernsey and Frances Fuller who had come to Manitoba from England in 1882. William was one of thirteen children born to this couple. By 1901 the Guernsey family was living in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. In the 1911 Census… Read More »