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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Maki, Alexander

Alexander Maki was living in Kenora, Ontario when he enlisted on 17 July 1916. According to his attestation paper he was single, born on 25 February 1880 in Wasa, Finland and he had served with the Finnish armed forces for three and a half years before immigrating to Canada. He was employed as a railroad… Read More »

Burlington, George Franklin (Frank)

Although a birth record was not found, according to a family tree on ancestry.ca, George Franklin Thomas (Frank) Burlington was born on 9 November 1889 in Minnedosa, Manitoba. His father John Charles Burlington, a carpenter, was from Chicago, Illinois while his mother Anne Mary Powell was from Ontario. The couple gave birth to their first… Read More »

Giguere, Alexandre

Birth, Parents and Siblings: According to his Attestation papers, Alexandre Giguere was born December 1, 1888, in the province of Quebec. One of his other military records states his birth was 1884;however, the 1891 Quebec census records him as age 8, thus, born about 1883. A birth registration has been located that confirms an 1883… Read More »

Burton, Frank

Frank Burton was born on 14 September 1885 in the Vaughn district of Ontario where his father Robert Burton was a farmer.  His mother was Margaret Ann Lawrence. Frank came from a large family. He had 12 siblings: Mary Gertrude, Henry, Margaret, Frank, Annie, William, Gideon, Berla, Charlie (who also served in WW1), Orville, Alvin… Read More »

Popham, Earle Cameron

Earle Cameron Popham was born on 1 July 1892 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their first born child, he was the son of Dr Edwin and Ella (née Tourje) Popham. Edwin was from the Ottawa area while Ella was from Cobourg, Ontario. It is likely that the couple met while Edwin was attending Victoria College in Cobourg,… Read More »

Essery, William Harold

Private William Harold Essery enlisted in April 1916, at age 17, and served in France with the 5th Battalion. He was wounded in September 1918 and spent the next year recovering in hospitals in England and Canada. William Harold, usually known as Harold, was born in Centralia, Stephen Township, South Huron, Ontario. He was the… Read More »

Nestok, Martin

According to his later obituary, Martin Nestok was born on 16 March 1890 in Russia. Although a record was not found, the 1921 Canada census suggested that he immigrated to Canada in 1910. On 2 June 1915, in Port Arthur, Ontario, Martin signed his attestation papers. His place of birth was given as Gorodnos (Grodno),… Read More »

Grant, Thomas

Born on January 10, 1885 in Ardelach, Nairn in Scotland, Thomas Grant, the son of Charles Grant and Annie Roberts, immigrated from Scotland in 1907 to Kenora, Ontario, Canada. He met Catherine (Kate) Duncan and they were married by license in the town of Kenora on April 11, 1911. Thomas was a flour packer at… Read More »

Cory, Wilbur Albert

Flight Second Lieutenant Wilbur Albert Cory enlisted in April 1916 and served with infantry units for two years before transferring to the Royal Air Force. He trained as a marine fleet observer and returned to Canada in the spring of 1919. Wilbur was the youngest son of Thomas Augustine Cory and Rachel Maude Dunphy of… Read More »

Primrose, Malberry Whittington

Although his attestation papers gave his birth as the 1st of July, Malberry Whittington (Whit) Primrose was born on 24 July 1894 in the township of Barrie, Frontenac, Ontario. His father George Henry Alexander Primrose was from London, England while his mother Emily Jane Haynes was from Kaladar, Ontario. The couple married in 1876 in… Read More »