Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 29, 1895
Place of BirthWest Carron, Larbert, Stirlingshire
CountryScotland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of Kinfather, David Duncan of Ignace, Ontario
Trade / CallingTelegrapher
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number198920
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionCanadian Corps Signals Company
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Engineers
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentDryden, Ontario
Address at EnlistmentIgnace, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 7, 1916
Age at Enlistment18
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJune 25, 1994
Age at Death98
Buried AtWoodlawn Cemetery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Plot58A-L096-SH

Duncan, James

James Duncan was born on 29 October 1895 in West Carron, Larbert, Stirlingshire in Scotland, date and place confirmed by his Scotland birth record. His father David Duncan, an iron moulder, was from Falkirk while his mother Annie McKechnie was from Edinburgh where the couple married on 10 July 1877. Their first child, daughter Mary, was born in Edinburgh but by the time of the birth of their next child, Annie, the family had moved to West Carron, Larbert, not far from Falkirk. Subsequent children born in Larbert were Agnes, Isabella, Sarah, James, Jemima, and William.

James’ father David immigrated to Canada first, arriving on 2 October 1906 aboard the Corinthian on his way to Winnipeg. Annie and children Agnes, Isabella, Sarah, James and William followed the next year, arriving in Halifax on 22 February 1907, also on the Corinthian. The family eventually settled in the village of Ignace in northwestern Ontario where David found work as a caretaker.

James signed his attestation papers on 7 February 1916 in Dryden, Ontario. His occupation was given as telegrapher and his father David in Ignace as next of kin. He gave his date and place of birth as 29 October 1897 in Carron Falkirk, Stirlingshire in Scotland. In April James’ brother William enlisted in Dryden, both boys with the 94th Battalion. Organized in November of 1915 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel HAC Machin with recruitment throughout northwestern Ontario, the 94th Battalion was headquartered in Port Arthur. After training for several months the battalion embarked from Halifax on 29 June 1916 aboard the SS Olympic. On board were Privates James and William Duncan.

Once in England both James and William were transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion. In December James was transferred to the 32nd Reserve Battalion and then on to 6th Reserve Battalion and posted to the Signal Base in January 1917. In April he was sent to France, spending time at the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp before joining the 4th Battalion in the field in mid November. In late January of 1918 James was granted a two week leave to the UK, attached to the Canadian Corps Headquarters upon his return. In March James was transferred to the Canadian Signal Pool, Canadian Engineers. He was out of service from late December until mid February 1919, taken on strength with the Canadian Engineers Reinforcement Depot on the 17th. On the 20th he was admitted to the Canadian Specialty Hospital at Witley, discharged on the 21st of March. James embarked for Canada on May 14th and was discharged from service on demobilization on the 26th in Port Arthur.

According to his later obituary, after the war James returned to work with the CPR, first stationed in Kenora, Ontario. He was next to return to Ignace, found on the 1921 census with his parents and brother William, both William and James working as operators. He was then asked to relieve in Fort William. On 3 April 1923, in Fort William, James married Mary Olive Browell. Born in in 1901 in Consett, Durham in England, Olive was the daughter of Charles Browell and Florence Gibson. She had previously been married to John Beaton. At the time of the marriage James’ occupation was given as telegrapher and their intended place of residency after marriage was given as Fort William. By 1933 James was living in Kenora, Ontario where he joined the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion.

Olive and James gave birth to two known children, Adeline and Kenneth. Over the years the family lived in Fort William, Kenora, Brandon, Manitoba, Longbow Lake (near Kenora), Woodstock, Ontario and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After first working as a tonnage clerk, then a telegraph operator, and finally chief dispatcher, James retired from the CPR in 1960 and he and Olive wintered in Florida for twenty-two years.

James died on 25 June 1994 in Saskatoon. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Olive, daughter Adeline (Hubert) Gibney of Saskatoon and son Dr Kenneth (Shirley) Duncan of Quadra Island in British Columbia. He was also survived by seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Olive later died on 10 January 2004 (age 102) in Saskatoon. James and Olive are interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon.

by Judy Stockham

Grave marker photograph by Don Norum, ID# 47854275, findagrave.com.


« Back To Soldier Biographies