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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Metail, Auguste Dieudonnais

Auguste Dieudonnais Metail was born on 24 September 1894 in Saint-Jeures, Haute-Loire, France. His father Joseph Metail was also from Saint-Jeures while his mother Anne Charlotte Crepet was from nearby Chambon-Feugerolles, Loire where the couple married on 30 October 1893. The young family immigrated to Canada in 1895, arriving in New York aboard the Maasdam… Read More »

Brodie, Benjamin John

Born in  the city of London, England in the parish of St. Botolph, on  August 15, 1877, Benjamin John Brodie  was the son of  James and Elizabeth A. Brodie.    He had an older sister, Elizabeth J. Brodie and a younger sister, Lydia Barbara Brodie.   By 1891 mother Elizabeth had remarried to William Collins and… Read More »

McKinnon, John David

John David McKinnon was born on 24 September 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His father Angus Hugh McKinnon was from the Lochiel area of Glengarry in Ontario while his mother Catherine Jane McRae was from Roxborough, Ontario. Although he had been living in Rat Portage and working as a general… Read More »

McMillan, James

James McMillan was born on 14 July 1877 in Poltimore, Quebec. Poltimore was/is a village situated in a valley between the Gatineau and Lievre Rivers north of Gatineau. James’ father Archibald McMillan had been born in  Lochiel, Glengarry County, but had moved with his family to the Poltimore area to start a logging camp. Wood… Read More »

Cardinal, Medore

Private Medore Cardinal was 40 years old, married and the father of eight children when he enlisted in March 1917. He served in England and France for fourteen months, returning to Canada due to illness in June 1918. Medore was the oldest son of Medore Cardinal and Mathilde Richer of Pain Court, Kent County, Ontario…. Read More »

LaRiviere, Gedeon Joseph

Gedeon Joseph LaRiviere was born on 10 July 1887 in Saint Marcel, L’Islet, Quebec. His parents were Gedeon and Marie Louise (née Messier) LaRiviere who had married in 1884 in Saint Marcel where their families farmed. Three children were born to the couple in Quebec, Joseph Antoine (1885-1885), Marie Louise (1886-1969), and Joseph. By the… Read More »

Benson, William

William Benson was born on 20 December 1887 in Pickering, Yorkshire in England. His father Mark Benson was from Pickering while his mother Annie Elizabeth Swain was from West Heslerton, also in Yorkshire. The couple had married during the first quarter of 1887 in Pickering. William had three younger siblings, James (1889), Mary (1891), and… Read More »

Nycz, Jan

John (Jan) Nycz was born on 21 March 1893 in Poland. While in Poland he married Anna Juzefczyk. Known children born to the couple were Mary, Helen, Josephina, Jennie, John and Nietek. According to his obituary, John served during WW1. He immigrated to Canada in 1929, settling in Kenora where he found work with the… Read More »

Barclay, Alexander

Alexander Barclay was born 06 January 1889 in Dufftown, Scotland.   He was the only son of George Barclay and Jane MacIntosh. His sisters were Georgina, Jean, Jessie, Bella and Mary.  He received his education in Scotland. In April of 1908 Alexander immigrated to Canada listing his occupation as farm labourer. He went to Baddeck,… Read More »

Millar, Kenneth

Kenneth Millar was an accomplished bagpiper and while only in Keewatin for a short time before enlisting, he was already a familiar face and sound in the community. Millar, born 22 June 1882 in Inverness, Scotland to Kenneth and Margaret Millar, had arrived in Canada on May 4 of 1914 bound for Keewatin with $25… Read More »