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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Clemons, Charles Edward

Charles Edward Clemons was born on 2 February 1894 in the Portland, Leeds area of Ontario where his family farmed. His parents were George Clemons and Fanny Victoria Preston, the couple marrying in 1890 in Singleton, Ontario. Children born to the family were Gertrude (m Henry Primrose) (1892-bef 1964), Charles, Emily (m Edward John Mott)… Read More »

Durrant, Frank Victor

Birth and baptism: The birth of Frank Victor Durrant was registered in the 4th quarter Greenwich Index, volume 1d, page 968, 1877. He was christened on January 27, 1878 in the parish of his birth, Deptford, St. Paul, Borough of Lewisham, Kent, England. This birth year of 1877 is different than that on his Attestation… Read More »

DeGagne, Clovis Adelard

Clovis Adelard DeGagne was born on 11 September 1865 in Laterriere, Chicoutimi in Quebec, date and place confirmed by his baptism record. His father George DeGagne was from L’isle aux Coudres in the St Lawrence River while his mother Marie Illide Dubois was from Becancour. The couple married on 7 January 1851 in Grande Baie,… Read More »

Baker, Walter

Walter Baker was born on 08 December 1887 in Beaford, Torrington, Devon, England. His father Thomas Baker was an agricultural labourer who had married his mother Hannah Cudmore during the last quarter of 1883 in Torrington. According to the 1891 census Walter had an older sister Ellen and younger brother Thomas. His mother died during… Read More »

Payette, Joseph

Joseph Payette was born on 6 February 1892 in Norman, Ontario, a few kilometres west of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Both of his parents, Joseph Payette and Mary Lauriault, were from Quebec, marrying on 9 April 1888 in Winnipeg. Mary had previously given birth to son Arthur in 1883 in St Boniface, Manitoba. At the… Read More »

Walch, Michael

According to his service file Private Michael Walch was born on 22 March 1878 in Kentville (possibly Kemptville), Ontario. He was unmarried, a labourer, his address was Fort William, Ontario and next of kin was his brother John Walch, also in Fort William. It’s possible their surname was actually Welsh, Walsh or Welch. Michael enlisted… Read More »

Ryan, James Anthony

Born on 18 May 1893 in Bromley, Osceola, Ontario, James Anthony (Jim) Ryan was the son of Michael and Bridget (née Gannon) Ryan, both of Irish descent. The family settled in the Renfrew area where they farmed. Jim was the eldest child in the family and had the following known siblings: Mary Frances, Michael L,… Read More »

Leavesley, Ernest Thomas

Ernest Thomas Leavesley was born on 13 July 1883 in Basford, a suburb in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. His father Charles Leavesley was from Newton Regis in Warwickshire while his mother Hannah Mee was from Basford where the couple married in 1874. Ernest had an older sister Sarah and a younger brother Charles. Charles Sr first… Read More »

Wadman, Charles Frederick

Charles Frederick Wadman was born on 8 January 1893 in Wingfield (also known as Winkfield), Trowbridge, Worcestershire in England where his family farmed. His father James Wadman was born about 1832 and mother Sarah Elizabeth Couch in 1862. Although a marriage record was not found, a later census suggested that the couple married in 1886…. Read More »

Dahm, Aloysius Bonaventure

Aloysius (Allie) Bonaventure Dahm was born on 14 July 1893 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Christian Dahm was from Rockville while his mother Elizabeth Brunenkamp was from Buffalo City, both in Wisconsin, USA. The young couple first lived in Saskatchewan (called the Northwest Territories at the time) where they gave birth… Read More »