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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Hilliard, Harold Howell

Harold Howell Hilliard was born on 26 November 1889 in Rat Portage, Ontario. His father was Louis Hilliard, a Norwegian who had immigrated to Canada in 1870 (date found in 1901 Canada census) and his mother was Ann McGinnis, origins given as Irish. The couple was found in the 1881 Canada census in what at… Read More »

Scott, Thomas Steele

Birth and early life:    The obituary of Thomas Steele Scott states he was born in Wishart, England and died in his 59th year; however, records indicate he was born April 19, 1873, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, son of Thomas Scott and Janet A. Steele. By the time the 1881 census was taken, the family was… Read More »

LaTour, John Joseph

John Joseph LaTour was born on 2 February of 1889 in the village of Norman a few kilometres west of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. His father Joseph LaTour was from Quebec while his mother Catherine (Kate) McIntyre was from Scotland. The couple likely married around 1883-84 in North Dakota, with son Peter Joseph born in… Read More »

Parsons, Henry William

Private Henry William Parsons enlisted in Winnipeg in October 1914, just a few months after the start of the war. He served overseas for three years, returning to Canada in the spring of 1918. Henry was born in Exeter, a river port city in the county of Devon in southwest England. His parents, William Thomas… Read More »

Purdy, David

Although he gave his birth place as Ottawa on his attestation papers, David Purdy was likely born on 29 September 1880 near Blackburn, Ontario, place as given on his second marriage record and numerous records of his siblings. His father George Purdy was from the Nepean, Ontario area while his mother Mary Virgin was from… Read More »

Francis, John McKechnie

The Battle of the Somme was a five-month long offensive that began in July 1916. The Canadian Corps arrived at the Somme in late August and in less than three months they suffered 24,000 casualties. One of the fallen was Private John McKechnie Francis of Kenora, Ontario. John was born on 20 November 1864 in… Read More »

George, Ernest Frederick

During the First World War between 3,000 and 4,000 Canadian soldiers became German prisoners of war. Lance Corporal Ernest Frederick George from Kenora, Ontario enlisted with the 8th Battalion in September 1914 and he died as a prisoner of war in Belgium seven months later. Ernest was born in September 1889 in the town of… Read More »

Brunsel, George

George Nelson Brunsel, son of Angus and Elizabeth Brunsel was born in Manitoba on 17 February 1873. He came to Rat Portage in 1879. He operated the first boat building company in Rat Portage with his brother Neill located on the lakefront between Main and Matheson street. Between 1899 and 1904 the company built many… Read More »

Caucutt, Edward

Edward (Ted) Caucutt was born on 22 August 1894 in Rat Portage (now Kenora), Ontario. His parents were Charles J. Caucutt and Ellen Annie Osgood. They were both from England and had married in 1886. Charles worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway – first as a section man, then a trainman and finally a conductor…. Read More »

Bergsten, Erik Herbert

Erik Herbert Bergsten was born on 22 January 1888 in Juni in the parish of Njurunda in the county of Västernorrland, Sweden. Njurunda was located at the mouth of the Ljungan River and later was absorbed by nearby Sundsvall. His father Per Olof Bergsten was from Njurunda while his mother Lovisa Bergström was from Sunne,… Read More »