Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 18, 1874
Place of BirthOkehampton, Devonshire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinElizabeth Anne Hucker, Wife, Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingWarehouseman
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number199339
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion94th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentApril 8, 1916
Age at Enlistment41
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathDecember 29, 1949
Age at Death75
Buried AtMountain View Cemetery, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Hucker, Thomas John Senior

Thomas was born in Okehampton, Devon, England.  His attestation papers gave his birth date as 18 October 1874, however other documents suggest the year of birth could be from 1869 to 1874 and the documents in his service file have May as the month of his birth. Thomas married Elizabeth Ann Evans on 24 December 1898 in Okehampton. He gave his occupation as a mason and according to his obituary, Thomas had already served many years in the Devonshire military prior to his marriage. His military service included time with the British Imperial Army during the Boer War and campaigns in Afghanistan and India.

The 1901 British census shows the Hucker family (Elizabeth, Thomas and a son Thomas J age 1) living on Exeter Street, North Tawton, Devon. Thomas Hucker Senior and his wife gave their occupations as wool combers. Elizabeth’s daughter Elizabeth Ellen (called Lillian) was living with her Evans grandparents on this census and was married with a family of her own by the 1911 census. In November 1905, the family came to Canada and were living at 441 6th Ave S. in Kenora, Ontario on the 1911 census.  The census shows Thomas age 38 and a laborer, his wife Elizabeth age 37, and four children: Thomas J., Beatrice M, Gertrude Violet, and Arthur. Arthur was listed as the only one born in Canada. This census record gives a date of immigration as 1906.

The Hucker family was still living in Kenora when Thomas enlisted in April 1916 in the 94th Overseas Battalion.  The attestation papers show Thomas was a warehouseman and a member of the Church of England. By May 1916, the local newspaper reported that the 94th Battalion had left Kenora. They arrived in Liverpool England in July 1916 on the SS Olympic.  Thomas was promoted to acting Lance Corporal without pay on 16 October 1916 but a few months later, in February 1917, he requested a return to ranks.  In March 1917, Thomas made out his will leaving his whole property and effects to his wife Mrs. Elizabeth Hucker living at 441 5th St S. in Kenora Ontario.  In September 1917, Thomas was reported seriously ill in a military hospital in England with pleurodynia.  Throughout his service time in England, Thomas was in and out of hospital finally receiving a medical discharge due to lumbar myalgia. Several medical reports give Thomas’s date of birth as May 18, 1869 so Thomas was approaching 50 years of age. Thomas did not serve any time in France.  His service record states that Thomas’s age and health made him medically unfit for further war service.  He returned to Canada and discharged from the military on June 12, 1918 with a total service of 2 years and 65 days.

After Thomas returned home from his military service, the family moved to Thunder Bay.  By the 1921 census, the family was living at 1315 1/2 Brown St. West, Fort William, Ontario.  Thomas was age 48 and a clerk. His wife Elizabeth was age 49, Thomas Junior  was age 21 and a stropper, Gertrude was age 17 and a waitress, Arthur was age 11 and a student and Reginald was age 9.  The family claimed to have immigrated in 1906.  Next door at 1315 Brown was John Evans age 35 and family who emigrated in 1920 and were probably related in some way to Elizabeth.

Thomas John Hucker Senior was age 80 according to his obituary when he died in the hospital, Port Arthur, Ontario on 29 December 1949.  The obituary states that Thomas was a doorman at the Royal Theatre in Fort William for his last 24 years.  He was buried from St. Luke’s Anglican Church to the Lady Grey Chapter of the I.O.D.E. military plot in Mountain View Cemetery.  He was a lifetime member of the Fort William branch of the Canadian Legion.   His Veteran Death Card lists his wife, Elizabeth Hucker, of Fort William, Ontario as his next of kin.

Thomas’s obituary lists his address as 125 North Harold St., Fort William.  He was survived by his wife and six children:  stepdaughter Lillian (married John Johnson and Frank Kinney), Thomas John Junior (married Adele Piper and Blanche Johnson), Beatrice Bernice May (married  George Coppard  and V. Ettinger), Gertrude Violet Mary (married Jame Lockwood and Edward Linklader), Arthur Charles Henry and Reginald Clarence Henry (married Thelma Thomson).

By Rhonda Glofcheski

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