Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | May 10, 1878 |
Place of Birth | London |
Country | England |
Marital Status | Married |
Next of Kin | Mrs Julia Lock, wife, Kenora, Ontario |
Trade / Calling | Carpenter |
Religion | Church of England |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 198424 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Army Medical Corps |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
Date of Enlistment | December 3, 1915 |
Age at Enlistment | 37 |
Theatre of Service | Great Britain |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | December 17,1953 |
Age at Death | 75 |
Buried At | Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario |
Plot | 0E-4-4 |
Francis George Lock was born on 10 May 1878 in the Southwark borough of London, England. Both of his parents, Frederick and Ann Granger (Wild) Lock, were from Lyme Regis in Dorset but had married in 1877 in Lambeth, London. Frederick was a joiner/carpenter. George was their first born child, followed by Ellen, William, Annie, Ada, and Edith. The family had moved to nearby Lambeth by the 1881 England census.
By the 1901 England census George, working as a carpenter, was boarding with the Rigby family in Lambeth. He was next found on the passenger list of the Lake Erie that arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in early March of 1907. With occupation listed as carpenter, his destination was given as Winnipeg. However at some point during 1907 he moved to Kenora, Ontario.
During the first quarter of 1909, in the registration district of St George Hanover Square, London, George married Julia Matthews Hoare. Julia, born in Uplyme in Devon, was the daughter of John and Matilda Hoare. John and Matilda were both from Lyme Regis in Dorset, and John had been a witness at the marriage of George’s parents.
George and Julia returned to Kenora where George worked as a carpenter in the construction industry. According to a later census, they gave birth to at least four children, James Edward (1912), John (abt 1914), Julia (abt 1917), and George (abt 1919).
George signed his attestation papers in Kenora on 3 December 1915. With recruitment throughout northwestern Ontario, the 94th Battalion was based in Port Arthur. After training in Kenora the men were moved to Port Arthur in late May of 1916 and left for Valcartier in Quebec in early June. The 94th Battalion embarked from Halifax on the 28th of June aboard the Olympic. On board was Private Francis George Lock.
Once in England the 94th Battalion was absorbed by the 17th and 32nd Reserve Battalions. George was transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion but preexisting medical conditions made it impossible for him to march/carry a pack sack. He had rigid flat feet that caused him a lot of pain as well as a perforated ear drum caused by scarlet fever in his childhood. In a review of August of 1917 George was classified as B2 and then later in March of 1918 as B3. He was transferred to the Canadian Army Medical Corps and served for the duration of the war in England. On escort duty, George arrived in Canada on 19 July 1919 aboard the Cedric, Liverpool to Halifax.
George returned to Kenora and the family was found on the 1921 Canada census living on 6th Street South; George continued to work as a carpenter. He assisted in the construction of two of Kenora’s largest industries, the Ontario and Minnesota Pulp and Pater Company and the Maple Leaf Mill. For 14 years preceding his death he was employed by the Town of Kenora. George was a life member of the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion, a life member of the Lake of the Woods Masonic Lodge, AF&AM No 445, and a member of St Alban’s Pro Cathedral. George, Julia, and son Edward travelled to England in 1928.
Following a lengthy illness, George died on 17 December 1953 in the Kenora General Hospital followed by his wife Julia who died in 1961. They are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora along with their son James Edward (Ted) and his wife Amy.
George is commemorated in Kenora on the St. Alban’s Pro-Cathedral First World War Roll of Honour.
by Judy Stockham
newspaper articles: Kenora Miner and News