Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthSeptember 24, 1886
Place of BirthSydenham Township, Grey County, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of Kinmother, Mary Baker of Fort William, Ontario
Trade / CallingSurgeon (CPR)
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number3233769
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionNo 3 Canadian General Hospital
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Army Medical Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at EnlistmentWhite River, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentApril 23, 1918
Age at Enlistment31
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathAugust 29, 1956
Age at Death70
Buried AtGreenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound, Ontario

Baker, Daniel MacTavish

Daniel MacTavish Baker was born on 24 September 1886 in Sydenham Township, Grey, Ontario. His father Wesley Baker was born in nearby St Vincent while his mother Mary MacTavish, daughter of Scottish immigrants, was from Sydenham. With occupation given as yeoman, Wesley and Mary married on 29 May 1882 in Sydenham. They gave birth to four known children: Jessie (b 1883), William (b 1885), Daniel, and Lillian (b 1892). The family farmed for a number of years until Wesley’s death in 1908. Jessie married Joseph Edmond Crawford, accountant, of Fort William in 1909 and left the area for the Lakehead. By the 1911 census Mary and Lillian were living in the district of Owen Sound where Lillian was attending school. Daniel attended the public school and collegiate in Owen Sound and then Queen’s University in Kingston to study medicine, graduating with his MD in 1916.

With occupation given as a surgeon for the Canadian Pacific Railway out of White River, Ontario, Daniel signed his recruitment and officers papers on 23 April 1918 in Toronto with the 2nd Depot Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment. Giving his mother who was living in Fort William as next of kin, he was listed as a captain with the Canadian Army Medical Corps with previous military service of three years. He had been discharged that day from the 2nd Battalion Canadian Garrison Regiment to accept a commission in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Upon arrival in England in late September he was taken on strength with the CAMC Reserve and Training Depot. From there he was posted to the No 3 Canadian General Hospital at Hastings in mid November. In April of 1919 Daniel was sent back to the CAMC R&T Depot and then to the Regimental Depot at Seaford. Due to demobilization, in early July of 1919 Daniel left for Canada aboard the Empress of Britain.

Dr Daniel Baker moved to Keewatin, Ontario in 1920 to practice medicine. On 5 August 1925 he married Edna Winnifred Curry, daughter of William and Selema (née Isaac) Curry of Murray, Northumberland, Ontario. He served as Medical Health Officer for 25 years as well as the Lake of the Woods Milling Company doctor. ‘He was known to all as a dedicated, religious and charitable human being, and upon whose skill many could rely, and for which he was known far and wide.’ (The History of Keewatin, p 211). He was a member of the Keewatin Legion, the Masonic Order, Wilson Lodge No 68, AF and AM, Toronto, the Kenora Golf and Country Club, and Keewatin United Church.

Predeceased by his father Wesley in 1908, his mother Mary in 1943, and his wife Edna in 1948, Dr Daniel MacTavish Baker died suddenly on 29 August 1956 at his residence on Ottawa Street in Keewatin. Along with his parents and his wife he is interred in the Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, Ontario. At the time of his death he was survived by his sister Jessie Crawford of Fort William, sister Lillian White of Ottawa, and his brother William of Vancouver.

by Judy Stockham

photo of Daniel: The Keewatin History Book by Silver Threads
obituary: Kenora Miner and News 30 August 1956
grave marker photo: Smith Favaro on findagrave.com

Baker-Daniel-Mactavish-2 Baker-Daniel-Mactavish-3


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