Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthDecember 23, 1900
Place of BirthSouth Shields, Northumberland
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Service Details
ForceRoyal Navy
BranchRoyal Naval Transports
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of Enlistment1915
Age at EnlistmentAbout 15
Theatre of ServiceAt sea
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMarch 9, 1980
Age at Death79
Buried AtCremated

Raine, Richard Oats

Richard Oats Raine was born on 23 December 1900 in South Shields, Northumberland, England. His father, Joseph Garrett Raine, was born in County Durham and his mother, Mary Ann Oats, in Northumberland. Joseph was a butcher by trade. He and Mary Ann were married in 1896 and they had at least seven children: Margaret Mary, John (died at age 5), Richard Oats, Agnes Russell, Joseph Gerald Balfour, Marian Elizabeth (died as an infant) and Thomas Williamson.

When the war started Richard was only 14 years old. The following year he joined the Royal Naval Transport section as a steward and he served with them for about four years, from 1915 to 1919. He immigrated to Canada two years later, arriving in Quebec on 22 May 1921 on the SS Melita. He was 20 years old and on his way to a friend in Poplar Point, Manitoba. He intended to take up farming.

Richard apparently settled in Birnie, Manitoba and he was married in Brandon on 8 April 1926. His wife, Ada Olivia Henton, was born on 10 February 1901 in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1905. Her parents were Mark Henton, a baker, and Amy Olive Lawrence. They settled in Birnie, Manitoba where her father took up farming. Ada had at least five siblings and sadly her mother died in 1913 and her father in 1919. They are both buried in Birnie Cemetery. During the war Ada’s older brother William James Henton enlisted and served in France with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps.

About a year after marrying Richard and Ada moved to Kenora, Ontario. Richard’s brother Joseph had immigrated to Canada in 1925 and he also settled in Kenora. Both men were hired by the local pulp and paper mill and went on to have long careers with the company. Richard became a member of the International Association of Machinists and the Kenora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. His wife joined the Ladies’ Auxiliary to the Royal Canadian Legion.

Richard and Ada had three children, Douglas, Olive and Marion. Richard retired in 1968 and he died at the Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora on 9 March 1980, at age 79. Cremation followed and a memorial service was held on 13 March. Ada passed away in the Lake of the Woods District Hospital on 17 November 1985, at age 84. Her cremains are buried in Birnie Cemetery with her parents. She was survived by son Douglas and daughters Olive (Mrs. Bill McCowan) and Marion (Mrs. Allan MacDonald). Richard’s brother Joseph died in 1992 and he’s buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Becky Johnson

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