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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Hedlund, Carl

Carl Gustaf Edward Hedlund was born on 28 February 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. Both of his parents were from Sweden, his father Johannes Gustafsson from Bäck, Skaraborg in Västergötland, while his mother Hilda Karlsdotter was from Fredsberg, also in Skaraborg. With the encouragement of the Swedish government back in… Read More »

Dyer, Francis Joseph

Francis Joseph Dyer was born on 03 June 1876 in West Cowes (Isles of Wight), Hampshire, England. His parents were Albert Dyer and Harriett Mary Turner. Francis spent his childhood on the Isle of Wight and went to sea at age 11. He earned his masters papers in sail in 1898 and was master of… Read More »

Anderson, George August LeRoy

George August (Gus) LeRoy Anderson was born on 15 December 1893. Although he gave his place of birth as Winston, Ontario in various documents and records, the name of it was actually Winston’s Siding, a very small community along the Canadian Pacific Railway between Schreiber and Rossport in northern Ontario. Both of his parents, John… Read More »

Betton, John Richard

Although his attestation papers say that he was born on 3 April 1898 in Liverpool, England, John  Richard Betton’s birth registration was for 1899.  He was the third born child of John Richard and Lavinia (Scarisbrick) Betton. His father John was the son of Philip, occupation engine fitter, and Johanna (Biggins) Betton and Lavinia was the… Read More »

Reynolds, Arthur

Arthur Reynolds was born on January 1, 1892 in Blackheath, Kent in England. Upon enlistment, he gave his place of birth as Greenwich, England and named his next of kin as his mother Mary, still living in Lee, Kent England as of 1917. He appears to have immigrated to Canada to take advantage of work… Read More »

Savage, Bertram Richard

Private Bertram Richard Savage enlisted underage in August 1916 and served with the 43rd Battalion in France and Belgium. He suffered gas poisoning but survived the war and returned home in May 1919. Bertram was the youngest son of Patrick Richard Savage and Mary Adeline Casey of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Patrick and Mary were both born… Read More »

Beaton, John

John Beaton was born on 11 March 1888 in Keewatin, Ontario, a small town in northwestern Ontario that is now amalgamated with Kenora. His father John Beaton, born in 1858, was from Braes of Dunvornie, Urquhart, Ross shire in Scotland while his mother Catherine Lawless Peach, born in 1863, was from the registration district of… Read More »

Button, Alexander Mason

Alexander Mason Button was born on 24 March 1892 in New Westminster, British Columbia. His father Frederick Button was from the Morris Township in Huron County while his mother Annie Watson Whyte was from the Township of Alice, Renfrew. The couple married 18 June 1899 in Alice, Fred’s occupation given as miner from Sudbury. Their… Read More »

Smith, Garfield

Garfield Smith was born on 30 August 1885 at Gypsum Mines, South Cayuga, Halimand, Ontario. His parents William Smith, the son of German immigrants, and Emeline Matilda Armstrong were both living in the Township of North Cayuga, Ontario at the time of their marriage on 11 May 1870 in Dunnville. Over the years the family… Read More »

Lusby, Ernest

Ernest Lusby was born on 14 June 1895 in Cotherstone, Yorkshire in England. His mother was Catherine Canning who was born in 1859 in Liverpool. Catherine married William Gilray, a mariner, in November of 1877 in Liverpool. In February of 1880 she then married William Lawson, Catherine listed as a widow on the marriage record… Read More »