Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 10, 1895
Place of BirthWinona, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs Ida Tew, mother, Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingTeamster
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number40887
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion3rd Reserve Battery
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Field Artillery
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentSeptember 21, 1914
Age at Enlistment19
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 14, 1972
Age at Death77
Buried AtDryden Cemetery, Dryden, Ontario

Tew, Arthur Francis

Arthur Francis Tew was born on 10 March 1895 in Winona, Ontario. His father William Tew was from Bambury/Hempton, Oxfordshire in England and had immigrated to Canada aboard the Parisian in 1889. His mother Ida Sturch was from North Grimsby, Ontario. The couple married on 23 December 1893 in Hamilton. Settling in Winona, William found work with the fruit packer company, ED Smith. Children born to the couple in Winona were Mabel Gertrude (1894), Arthur, and Gordon Melvin (1897). In 1899 the family moved to Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario where son Cecil Earl was born in 1904. Over the years the family farmed in nearby Jaffray and Melick (now part of Kenora), operating dairy farms there and in Dryden, a community about 140 kilometres east of Kenora. William showed a strong interest in the development of agriculture and horticulture and for years was a director of the Kenora Agricultural Society. He was also a member of the Jaffray and Melick town council.

With occupation given as teamster and his mother Ida as next of kin, Arthur signed his attestation papers in Valcartier, Quebec on 21 September 1914. He had signed an earlier set of attestation papers in Saskatoon right after war had been declared. Arthur was taken on strength with the No 1 Depot Battery, CFA at Shorncliffe on 22 April 1915. However he was to be plagued with illnesses during training in England, first suffering a case of measles followed by scarlet fever. Due to the weakness and loss of weight, Arthur was returned to Canada in late January 1916. The proceedings of a Medical Board in Winnipeg on February 12th found that ‘Arthur’s ability to earn a full livelihood to be lessened by one half’ and that  ‘treatment in a convalescent home will not materially benefit his recovery as he has a good home on a farm which will be good treatment for him’. Arthur was discharged from service as medically unfit.  Arthur’s brother Gordon signed recruitment papers with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment in December of 1917, serving with the 18th Reserve Battalion.

In 1919 Arthur moved to Dryden and found employment with the Dryden Paper Company. On 3 June 1920 in Fort William, Ontario, Arthur married Alice Maud Chapman. Growing up in Wabigoon, a community about 20 kilometres east of Dryden, Alice was the daughter of James Chapman and Alice Blatchford. Although the newlywed’s intended residence was given as Fort William, the couple made Dryden their home where they raised their three children, Audrey Beryl, William James, and Arthur Henry (Harry). Arthur retired as pulp mill superintendent in 1958. He was a member of St Luke’s Anglican Church and the Dryden Paper 25 Year Club.

Predeceased by his father William in 1946 and his mother Ida in 1953, both in Kenora, and his wife Alice in 1954, Arthur died on 14 July 1972 in Dryden. At the time of his death he was survived by his daughter Mrs Wm J (Audrey) Murray of London, Ontario, sons William and Harry of Dryden, brothers Cecil of Mission, British Columbia and Gordon of Winnipeg, sister Mrs Mabel Brownwell of Winnipeg, and five grandchildren. Arthur and Alice are interred in the Dryden Cemetery.

by Judy Stockham

Tew-Arthur-Francis-2 Tew-Arthur-Francis-3 Tew-Arthur-Francis-4
grave marker photograph from Canadian Grave Marker Gallery
obituary courtesy of the Dryden Public Library


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