Lennox, Albert Bertram

Albert Bertram (Bert) Lennox was born on 25 February 1885 in Banda, Simcoe, Ontario. Both of his parents William and Jane (Wilcox) Lennox were from farms in the area and had married on 12 March 1884 in nearby Barrie. Their first born child, Bert had younger siblings Jessie Jane (1887-1962), William Henry (Harry) (1889-1960), and Ruby Eveline (1893-1969). The family farmed in the area and then moved to Toronto where William worked as a labourer for the Toronto Railway. By the time of the 1901 census they had relocated to Swan River in Manitoba where they farmed for a number of years, later moving to Winnipeg and then on to the Delta/Ladner area of British Columbia at some point between 1916-1921.

By the time of the 1911 census Bert was living in Shoal Lake, Manitoba and working as a office salesman. He moved to Winnipeg and attended Welsey College, graduating as a chiropodist. On 15 January 1915 in Norman, Ontario, a small community just west of Kenora, Bert married Florence May Snider. Born in Norman in 1890, Florence was the daughter of John and Minnie (née Dulmadge) Snider. Bert and Florence were to make Winnipeg their home where Bert practiced chiropody. In late November they gave birth to their first child, daughter Margaret Isabel.

With name given as Bertram Albert Lennox, occupation as chiropodist, and his wife Florence in Winnipeg as next of kin, Bert signed his attestation papers in Winnipeg on 26 January 1917. He gave his place of birth as Creemore, a larger community about 10 kilometres from Banda. The 251st (Good Fellows) Battalion, based in Winnipeg, had begun recruiting in the autumn of 1916 in Winnipeg and the surrounding district. As a Sergeant with the battalion, Bert embarked from Halifax aboard the Metagama on 4 October 1917, arriving in Liverpool on the 17th. Within a few days he was transferred to the 18th Reserve Battalion, reverting to the rank of Private, where he was to serve as a medical orderly for the remainder of the war.

In July of 1918 Bert was promoted to Acting Corporal (with pay). That September, one evening out on a call to see a patient, while crossing the parade ground Bert was hit in the eye by another soldier in a party. Unconscious, it wasn’t until he was in the hospital that he woke up. He had a deep laceration over the eye and spent 2-14 September in the No 14 Canadian Hospital in Meads, Eastbourne in Sussex. With the end of the war, on 30 December 1918 Bert arrived in Halifax aboard the Carmania and was discharged from service on 4 February 1919 in Winnipeg. An article in the Kenora Miner and News of 8 January 1919 spoke of Bert’s return.

Bert continued with his chiropody practice in Winnipeg after the war. The family lived in the St Vital area and gave birth to four more children, Valerie, Sheila, Barbara, and William (Bill). Bert took an active part in the organization of boys and girls community clubs and extensions in St Vital. He took part in municipal affairs for many years and was a member of the Maple Leaf, L.O.L., No 325.

Predeceased by his mother Jane in 1926 in Ladner, BC, Bert died at home on 16 June 1947. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Florence, children Margaret Murray (St Vital), Valerie Graham (Warren, MB), Sheila Stafford (Winnipeg), Barbara (at home), and William (Vivian, MB), his father William, and siblings Jessie Kempson, Ruby Fisher, and Harry, the latter all of Ladner, BC. Florence died on 2 May 1976 in the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Winnipeg. Bert and Florence are interred in Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg.

by Judy Stockham

Grave marker photographs: billiongraves.com

 

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