Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMay 22, 1894
Place of BirthElmwood, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinLeatta Evans, mother, 57 Bain Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Trade / CallingSurveyor
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number862452
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion19th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentToronto, Ontario
Address at Enlistment57 Bain Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 18, 1916
Age at Enlistment21
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 23, 1955
Age at Death61
Buried AtSaint James Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
PlotSection E, Lot 123, South Grave

Evans, Patrick Hamilton

Patrick Hamilton Evans was born on 22 May 1894 in Elmwood, Ontario, a community about 200 kilometres northwest of Toronto. His parents John Humphrey Evans and Leatta Sophia Parrinton were both born in Ontario, the couple marrying on 9 February 1887 in Toronto. At the time of the marriage John, a doctor, was living in Elmwood while Leatta was living in Toronto. Other children born to the couple were twins John Humprey (Jack) and Laeta Emily (1892) and Ruth Marion (1896). By the time of the 1901 census the family had moved to Toronto.

With occupation given as surveyor and his mother Leatta in Toronto as next of kin, Patrick enlisted with the 180th Battalion on 18 February 1916 in Toronto. With rank of Private, he arrived in England aboard the Olympic on 20 November 1916, the 180th Battalion absorbed by the 3rd Reserve Battalion on 6 January 1917. Patrick spent most of April as a patient in the Canadian Hospital Etchinghill in Lyminge, Kent (vds), discharged on 1 May. In November he was transferred to the 19th Battalion for duty overseas, arriving at the unit on 12 December. In May 1918 Patrick was appointed Lance Corporal, Lance Sergeant in September, and Sergeant in mid November. That October he had attended the 1st Army Musketry course and had been granted a two week leave in November. With the end of the war he proceeded to England in early April 1919 and was admitted to the Canadian Special Hospital in Witley, Surrey later that month (vds). Discharged from the hospital in mid June, he was taken on strength with the Central Ontario Regimental Depot waiting for return to Canada. Arriving in Halifax on the Caronia 17 August, Patrick was discharged from service on demobilization on 19 August 1919 in Toronto, rank of Sergeant.

On 13 November 1920, in London, Ontario, Patrick married Grace Margaret Cotterell. At the time of the marriage both Patrick and Grace were living in London, Patrick working as a sprinkler fitter. Born on 23 August 1895 in London, Grace was the daughter of Thomas Joseph Cotterell, a locomotive engineer, and Margaret McGuire. Her parents had married in 1890 in Toronto. Sadly, her father had died in 1897, with Margaret left to raise the children.

By the time of the 1921 census Patrick and Grace were living in Keewatin, Ontario, a small town about 5 kilometres west of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Boarding with the Henry and Elizabeth Smith family, at the time of the census Patrick was listed as working as a pipe fitter at the local flour mill. Eventually they made their way back to Toronto, 1940’s voters lists giving Patrick’s occupation as relief officer. He later became a district supervisor of the Department of Welfare for the city of Toronto. The couple gave birth to three children, Margaret, Jack, and Terry.

Patrick died on 23 July 1955 at the Toronto Western Hospital. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Grace, daughter Margaret (William) Pollock of Toronto, sons Jack of Guelph and Terry of St Thomas, both in Ontario, and his three siblings. Grace later died on 8 December 1892 in Belleville, Ontario. Patrick and Grace are interred in Saint James Cemetery in Toronto.

By Judy Stockham

Grave marker photograph by Islington, findagrave.com.


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