Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJanuary 31, 1893
Place of BirthWalworth, London
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle (married in April 1916)
Next of KinWilliam Charles Lane (brother), Goldburg, Saskatchewan
Trade / CallingFarm labourer
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number805281
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion3rd Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentBethany, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 26, 1916
Age at Enlistment23
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 16, 1972
Age at Death79
Buried AtHale's Cemetery, Yelverton, Ontario

Lane, Ernest

Private Ernest Lane was born on 31 January 1893 in Walworth, Southwark, London, England. As a child he came into the care of Fegan’s Homes and at age 14 he was sent to Canada as a Home Child. He arrived in Quebec on 24 May 1907 on the Empress of Britain. At that time many of the boys were sent to Fegan’s Distributing Home in Toronto and placed on farms in central and western Ontario. When the 1911 census was taken Ernest was living with John and Ada Clark in Manvers Township, Durham County, Ontario. John was a farmer and Ernest was working as a farm labourer. Also living in Manvers Township was Albertha Argue, the daughter of Henry Argue, a farmer, and his wife Sarah Jane Campbell. Albertha was born in Yelverton, Manvers Township in March 1898.

By the time he enlisted Ernest was living in the nearby village of Bethany. He signed up on 26 January 1916 in the town of Orono, joining the 136th (Durham) Battalion. His occupation was farm labourer and next of kin was his brother William Charles Lane in Goldburg, Saskatchewan. The 136th Battalion was based in Kingston and the recruits trained there over the spring and summer. Ernest had a period of leave for most of April, probably for the planting season. He was married in Bethany on 19 April 1916 to Albertha Argue. He changed his next of kin to his wife, whose address was Bethany (later Lindsay, Ontario).

Late in the summer of 1916 the recruits for the 136th Battalion were sent to Valcartier Camp in Quebec, on the first leg of their journey overseas. On 12 September Ernest suffered an injury, apparently during bayonet training, and he was admitted to the hospital at Valcartier. He had fractured the lower part of his right fibula and dislocated the ankle joint. On 1 October he was transferred to the hospital in Kingston, Ontario and assigned to the 3rd Special Service Battalion, which was based in Kingston. On 15 December he was fully recovered and discharged to duty and he served with the 3rd Special Service Battalion for the next 18 months.

In June 1918 Ernest was transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment, which was also based in Kingston, and he served with them for another seven months. He was discharged as medically unfit on 24 January 1919 with his intended place of residence listed as Bethany. Ernest and his wife lived in Bethany for several years and they had two sons, Ralph Henry (1919) and George Ernest Ross (1923). Around 1926 they moved to Kenora, Ontario and the boys grew up there. Ernest worked as a stationary engineer for the pulp and paper mill in Kenora for almost twenty years. He became a member of the Canadian Legion, Kenora branch. His son Ralph served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and he was also a member of the Kenora Legion.

Around 1945 George and Albertha returned to Bethany and took up farming. By the early 1960s they were retired. Albertha passed away in 1968 and she’s buried in Hale’s Cemetery, which is next to the United Church in her home town of Yelverton. George returned to Kenora and lived with his son Ralph, who had a long career as an electrician for the town. In April 1972 George moved into Pinecrest Nursing Home and he passed away there three months later, on 16 July, at age 79. He is buried with his wife in Hale’s Cemetery in Yelverton. He was predeceased in 1970 by his son George, who is interred in Lake of the Woods Cemetery with other family members. Ralph died in Kenora in 1985.

By Becky Johnson

Grave marker photograph by BaRene, ID #49585020, findagrave.com.


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