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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Hewitt, Edward

Edward Hewitt was born on 5 November 1890 in Gortnamoney, Moira in County Down in northern Ireland. His parents William Hewitt and Mary Ann Costley were both from the area, marrying on 3 April 1888 in Moira. At the time of Edward’s birth William’s occupation was given as ploughman on his birth record while later… Read More »

Boswell, John

John Boswell was one of the early volunteers to answer the call to duty in the Kenora area, being on a list of eight men stepping forward between August 10 and August 11 as Kenora signed up men for the 1st Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Prior to coming to Canada in 1906, he’d… Read More »

Cotter, William Thomas

William Thomas (Bill) Cotter was born on 10 December 1887 in Quebec City, date confirmed by his baptism record. Both of his parents, Andrew Cotter and Mary Jane O’Neill, were born in Quebec to Irish immigrants. The couple married on 21 April 1884 in Quebec City. Over the years Andrew worked as a plumber as… Read More »

Parent, Joseph

Private Joseph Parent was called up for service in November 1917 and sent to France a year later. He returned to Canada in March 1919. Joseph was born in Montreal on 20 March 1892 and baptized the same day as Joseph Octave Napoleon Parent. His parents, Octave Parent and Cécile Plamondon, were married in Montreal… Read More »

Lane, Ernest

Private Ernest Lane was born on 31 January 1893 in Walworth, Southwark, London, England. As a child he came into the care of Fegan’s Homes and at age 14 he was sent to Canada as a Home Child. He arrived in Quebec on 24 May 1907 on the Empress of Britain. At that time many… Read More »

Ross, Ada Janet

Nursing Sister Ada Janet Ross enlisted in May 1915, at age 47, and served in France and the UK for three years. She died of illness in July 1918 in Buxton, England. Ada was born on 11 August 1867 in Toronto, Ontario. Her parents were Joseph and Margaret Ross and she had at least one… Read More »

Keen, Frederick William

Frederick William Keen was born on 28 March 1870, birth registered during the 2nd quarter in Worcester, Worcestershire in England. His father Thomas Keen, commercial traveller, was from Stoke in Devonshire as was his mother Amelia Babb where the couple had married in 1866. Children born to the family, all in Worcester, were Eliza (1867),… Read More »

Knight, John William

According to his attestation papers, John William Knight was born on 8 July 1883 in Little Bay, Newfoundland. He was the son of John and Mary Ann Knight, both born in Newfoundland. He had a younger brother James who was born in 1884 in Newfoundland. By the time of the 1901 census the family was… Read More »

McMurphy, Lionel Dougald

Private Lionel Dougald McMurphy enlisted in October 1914 and served overseas for four years, most of that time with the 27th Battalion. He was wounded twice but he survived the war and returned home in May 1919. Lionel was the son of Dougald McMurphy and Olivia Jane Welsh. His parents were both born in Ontario,… Read More »

Sewell, Claude

Claude Sewell was born on 21 March 1896 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. Both of his parents John Sewell and Louisa Sarah Parr were from England, immigrating to Canada around 1891 according to later census records. Their first child, daughter Gladys, was born in 1893 in Rat Portage where John was working as… Read More »