Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthSeptember 25, 1877
Place of BirthOldford, Middlesex
CountryEngland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of Kinwife, Jane P Webb of 1521 Elgin Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Trade / CallingPlasterer
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number830566
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion8th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at Enlistment1521 Elgin Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 18, 1916
Age at Enlistment38
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathAugust 17, 1961
Age at Death83
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot61E-41-1

Webb, William George

William George Webb was born 25 September 1877 in Old Ford, London, Middlesex, England.  He was the third of seven children born to Edwin Webb and Eliza Sayer.  He received his education in England and became a plasterer by trade.  He married Jane Phillips Nixon in West Ham, Essex in 1899 and their daughter Jane Webb was born in 1900.

In 1903 the family came to Canada and settled in Winnipeg where we find them on the 1906, 1911 and 1916 census returns.  By this time four sons have been added to the family – William in 1905, John in 1907, Frank in 1911 and Ralph in 1915.

The family spent summers at their cottage in Laclu, Ontario from the time of its purchase in 1906.

On 18 January 1916 at age 38,  William George Webb enlisted in the CEF for the First World War.  He joined the 144th Battalion in Winnipeg and on 18 September 1916 he embarked for  England from Halifax aboard the SS Olympic. Upon his arrival in England William was assigned to the 18th Reserve Battalion. In May 1917 he was transferred to the 8th Battalion and sent to France. Family history reports that in August 1917 William participated in the Hill 70 battle outside Lens and was gassed. His service records show that he was admitted to hospital on 17 October 1917 with myalgia.

Upon his discharge from hospital in December 1917 William was transferred to the Canadian Labour Pool. In April 1918 he received the classification of B2 which qualified him for non-combatant service in base units. William was then transferred to the 8th Area Employment Company. Another bout of myalgia in August 1918 resulted in William being invalided from France. He was transferred to England and posted to the General Depot in Witley in December 1918. After time in Kinmel Park,William was struck off strength to Canada on 13 March 1919. He received his official discharge due to demobilization on 28 March 1919. Family history reports that William spent time in Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg.   Doctors told him to ‘get his affairs in order’ as he would probably die from stomach cancer within six months.   He received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

However, William beat the odds and upon his release from hospital he determined to spend as much time as he could in Laclu.  In the 1920’s he began providing supply service to campers in the area and this led to the establishment of Webb’s Camp.  He also continued his masonry trade and worked on many of Kenora’s well known buildings including the Imperial Bank, Kenricia Hotel and the court house. The family moved to Laclu permanently in the early 1930’s.  William retired in 1939 and he and his wife moved to Vancouver Island. They returned to Laclu in 1945.

William George Webb passed away in Kenora, Ontario on 17 August 1961 at age 83.  He is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora beside his wife Jane, who predeceased him in 1958.

Webb-William-George-11 Webb-William-George-12 Webb-William-George-13 Webb-William-George-14 Webb-William-George-15 Webb-William-George-16

Photographs of William courtesy of his grandson Ralph Webb.


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