Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMay 17, 1893
Place of BirthNapanee, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMr George Lindsay, father, Pellatt PO, Ontario
Trade / CallingEngineer
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number4070503
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion5th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Garrison Regiment
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at EnlistmentPellatt PO, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentNovember 11, 1917
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathSeptember 24, 1984
Age at Death91
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot20E-37-3

Lindsay, Ernest

The son of George Lindsay and Caroline Johnson, Ernest Lindsay was born on 17 May 1893 in Napanee, Ontario. His father George was a fisherman in the Belleville/Napanee area although they may also have had a small farm. Ernest had four older siblings, George, Lilly, Grace, and Herbert. Sadly, it appears that Lilly, struck by lightning, died in 1896. Around 1909 the family relocated to northwestern Ontario, farming in the Umbach/Pellatt area a few kilometres northwest of Kenora. The 1911 census found Herbert and Ernest listed with their parents on the farm as well as with their sister Grace and her husband Ernest Watts in Kenora. Both census entries indicated that they were working as labourers at a local sawmill.

With the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, Ernest signed his recruitment paper on 11 November 1917 and had his medical examination on 16 April 1918 in Winnipeg. He was living in Pellatt at the time, occupation given as civil engineer, and his father George in Pellatt as next of kin. Transferring as a Private from the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment, Ernest served in Quebec with the 5th Battalion Canadian Garrison Regiment. He was hospitalized in the Quebec Military Hospital with influenza for nine days in November, discharged on the 26th. Ernest was discharged from service by reason of demobilization on 28 November 1918 in Quebec. His brother Herbert also signed his recruitment paper on 11 November 1917 and as a Private with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment and following a conditional leave, he was discharged on 27 July 1918 in Winnipeg, struck off strength on return to Registrar’s Records.

Returning to Kenora, Ernest married Hilda Kirkman on 15 December 1921. Born on 9 June 1903 in the Oldham area of Lancashire, England, Hilda was the daughter of Richard and Mary Kirkman. She had immigrated to Canada in 1910 with her mother and sister Emma, arriving in Quebec aboard the Lake Manitoba on 22 May on their way to Kenora where her father Richard was living.

Ernest and Hilda made Kenora their home, giving birth to children Marguerite (Mary), Lillian (1924-2000), Richard (Dick) (1926-2005), and Ernest (1931-1990). Ernest worked for several years as a captain on many well known area boats on the Lake of the Woods and later became a  taxi driver in 1946, chauffeuring customers until his retirement in 1967. He was a member of the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion.

Ernest died on 24 September 1984. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Hilda, sons Richard and Ernest of Kenora, and daughters Lil (Garnet) Hardy of Kenora and Marguerite (Marvin) Wood of Parry Sound as well as grandchildren. He was predeceased by his mother Caroline in 1926, father George in 1931, brother Herbert in 1966, all in Kenora, brother George, and sister Grace Watts in 1972 in Belleville, Ontario. Ernest’s wife Hilda died on 13 April 1988 in the Pinecrest Home for the Aged in Kenora. Along with Ernest she is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Stockham
Lindsay-Ernest-2 Lindsay-Ernest-3

Photograph of Ernest provided by his grandson.

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