Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthFebruary 9, 1885
Place of BirthRat Portage (Kenora), Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs C Shouldice, mother, Kenora, Ontario
Trade / Callinglabourer
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number439569
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion52nd Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentJuly 26, 1915
Age at Enlistment30
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathFebruary 1, 1936
Age at Death51
Buried AtProspect Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
PlotSection 7 Lot 1410

Shouldice, Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander Shouldice was born on 9 February 1885 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Joseph Shouldice was from the Gatineau River/Wakefield area of Quebec and had come west to Winnipeg in 1877 to work on CPR construction. His mother Christina Sutherland was from West River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The couple married on 21 May 1894 in Winnipeg and then settled in Rat Portage as Joseph became a captain/operator of steamboats on Lake of the Woods. Other children born to the couple were James, Joseph, and Elizabeth Minnie.

Along with his brother James, Arthur enlisted on 26 July 1915 in Fort Frances, Ontario, occupation given as labourer. The 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion, CEF was raised in Northern Ontario  during the spring of  1915 with its mobilization headquarters at Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ontario. Recruiting took place during the spring and summer, drawing from Kenora, Fort Frances, Dryden, Port Arthur and Fort William. The battalion left Port Arthur 4 November 1915 for New Brunswick. On 23 November Arthur and James embarked from St John aboard the California. Once in England, the battalion spent 6 weeks of training under British instructors at Witley Camp and then moved on to Bramshott for 2 more weeks. On 26 February 1916 the 52nd sailed from Southampton to La Havre, France, and then on to Belgium by train.

In July of 1916 Arthur was to spend a couple of days at the No 9 Field Ambulance with an infected hand. Along with his brother James  Arthur’s first leave was granted in August of 1917 where  the two fellows were  to spend  ten days in Paris. He was granted  two more  leaves, one in  late February and one in late December of 1918, both fourteen days to the UK. On 17 March 1919 Privates Alexander and James Shouldice  embarked from Southampton aboard the Olympic on  their way back to Canada.

After the war Arthur returned to the Kenora area. At the time of the 1921 census he was listed as an engineer on an alligator boat on Denmark Lake south of Kenora. He then found employment as a switchman with the CPR out of Kenora and had also worked in lumbering operations with the Keewatin Lumber Company.

On 22 August 1922, in Kenora, Arthur married Isabel Cottingham, daughter of William and Jane (née Mullin) Cottingham. The couple went on to have three children. Ill for quite some time, thought to be due to his service in the war, Arthur was sent to Toronto’s Military Hospital but passed away on 1 February 1936. He is interred in the Prospect Cemetery in Toronto.

Arthur’s parents had moved to Winnipeg in retirement. His mother passed away in 1937 and his father in 1938. They are interred in Brookside Cemetery. It appears that Isabel and the children did not return to Kenora. According to an online family tree, Isabel died on 19 February 1975 in London, Ontario. Arthur’s brothers James and Joseph returned safely from the war, Joseph having signed his recruitment papers on 3 May 1918 in Port Arthur, Ontario.  James eventually moved to Winnipeg and died on 5 March 1955. He is interred in the military section of Brookside Cemetery. Joseph married and raised his family in Kenora. He died on 7 July 1971 and is interred in the military section of the Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.

by Judy Stockham

Shouldice-Arthur-Alexander-1 Shouldice-Arthur-Alexander-2 Shouldice-Arthur-Alexander-3 Shouldice-Arthur-Alexander-4 Shouldice-Arthur-Alexander-5

photograph of Arthur and Isabel from a public Shouldice family tree
grave marker photograph by Shannon Stafford


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