Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | May 2, 1856 |
Place of Birth | Cairnie, Aberdeenshire |
Country | Scotland |
Marital Status | Widower |
Next of Kin | John Sim, son, Kenora, Ontario |
Trade / Calling | Teamster |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 198426 |
Service Record | |
Battalion | 94th Battalion |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Infantry |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
Date of Enlistment | December 6, 1915 |
Age at Enlistment | 59 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | October 27, 1927 |
Age at Death | 71 |
Buried At | Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario |
Plot | 17E-17-4 |
Gordon Sim was born on 2 May 1856 in Cairnie, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. His parents were William Sim and Catherine Henderson, both from the general area in Aberdeenshire. By the time of the 1851 census the family had a 24 acre farm in Redford, Cairnie. Children born to William and Catherine were John (1832), William (1834-1841), Peter (1836-1897), Robert (1838), Mary Ann (1840), George (1842-1878), Jane (1844-1931), James (1846-1867), William (1848), Charles (1852), Alexander (1854-1881), Gordon, and Andrew (1858-1879).
In 1878 Gordon and (Mary) Ann Lillie gave birth to son John in Forgue, Aberdeenshire where Ann was working as a servant. At the time Gordon was working as a servant in Redford, Cairnie. At some point Gordon and Ann immigrated to Canada, farming in the District of Monck in the township of Pelham near St Catharines in Ontario at the time of the 1891 census. By 1901 they had relocated to Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario where Gordon found work as a teamster. In 1907 the couple travelled back to Scotland, presumably for their son John’s marriage to Barbara Cruden on 6 April in St Nicholas in Aberdeen. They returned to Canada on the Lake Erie, arriving in Quebec on the 24th of August. John, Barbara, and their daughter Lily Ann immigrated to Canada in 1909, arriving in Quebec on the Empress of Ireland on the 19th of August on their way to Kenora. After a lingering illness, Mary Ann died on 18 June 1912 in Kenora.
Gordon signed his attestation papers with the 94th Battalion on 6 December 1915 in Kenora. HIs occupation was given as teamster and his son John in Kenora as next of kin. Likely to appear younger he gave his date of birth as 1 May 1872 in Aberdeen. After training with the battalion as a Private, he was found medically unfit for further service at Valcartier in Quebec on 25 June 1916, three days before the battalion sailed for England.
Gordon died on 27 May 1927 in St Joseph’s Hospital in Kenora. He was predeceased by his father William in 1870 and mother Catherine in 1891, both in Cairnie as well as most of his siblings. He was survived by his son John and family in Jaffray Melick on the outskirts of Kenora. John later died in 1961 followed by his wife Barbara in 1966. Gordon and Mary Ann, John and Barbara as well as some of their children are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.
By Judy Stockham