Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthAugust 25, 1888
Place of BirthLong Sutton, Lincolnshire
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinThomas Miller Brown, father, 1414 Cay Avenue, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Trade / CallingClerk
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental NumberCan 151319
Service Recordsee images below
BattalionRoyal Air Force (Canada)
ForceAir Force
BranchRoyal Air Force
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentOctober 22, 1917
Age at Enlistment29
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 1, 1938
Age at Death50
Buried AtForest Lawn Memorial Park, Burnaby, British Columbia.
PlotCrescent Section, lot 110 space 4

Brown, John Miller

Born on 28 September 1888, John Miller (Jack) Brown grew up on a large farm called Monmouth House in the area of Long Sutton-Lutton in Lincolnshire, England. It appears that his father Thomas Miller Brown took over the management of the farm from his father John Brown in the mid to late 1880’s. During the second quarter of 1886, in Long Sutton, Thomas had married Mary Lizzie Naylor, also from Long Sutton. Jack had an older brother Thomas, and younger siblings Horace, Mary Louise, Harold, Hugh (1896-1901), and Bernard. The farm was over 600 acres in size and usually employed around thirty men and women, a half a dozen boys, as well as a couple of house domestics. Jack’s mother Mary died during the first quarter of 1902, and the following year Thomas and all the children immigrated to Canada, arriving in Quebec on 27 June 1903 aboard the Parisian with destination given as Brandon, Manitoba.

The family ended up farming near Carberry in the Portage la Prairie district in Manitoba. In November of 1912 Jack entered the Canadian Pacific Railway services at Kenora, Ontario and was appointed as cashier at Portage la Prairie where he remained until becoming chief clerk in the Kenora freight office in October of 1916. Meanwhile at some point before the 1916 census his father Thomas had moved to Saskatoon with Jack’s brother Bernard.

Along with a couple of other fellows from Kenora, Jack signed his attestation papers in Winnipeg with the Royal Flying Corps on 22 October 1917, giving his father in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as next of kin. By the 25th he was in Toronto ready for training as a 2nd Air Mechanic. A local Kenora newspaper speculated that the fellows would be sent to the new training camp being prepared in Texas. On 4 January 1918 Jack was appointed 2nd Corporal. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service were amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force and he was transferred to the RAF. Having served in Canada, Jack was discharged on 4 February 1919 as no longer being physically fit for service.

After discharge, Jack returned to Kenora and his job as chief clerk in the freight office of the CPR. Although living in Kenora at the time, on 16 June 1920, in Vancouver, Jack married Mildred Alice Loynes. Born in 1898 in Wroxham, Norfolk, England, Mildred had immigrated to Canada in 1910, arriving on the 21st of August aboard the Dominion with intended place of residence as Kenora. At the time of the marriage Mildred was living in Vancouver and working as a clerk. Jack and Mildred were to make Kenora their home, giving birth to one child, daughter Mildred Louise. Jack was active in the Masonic circles and for some years was secretary of the local Liberal-Conservative Association.

Following a three month illness, Jack died of carcinoma of the liver on 1 July 1938 in the Kenora General Hospital. He remains were shipped to Vancouver where he was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park. His father Thomas had moved to Victoria where he died in 1940. Jack’s wife Mildred later married Leslie Wilson and moved to Cobourg, Ontario. Mildred died in Richmond, British Columbia in July of 1966, having relocated there that May. Her death registration was signed by her daughter Mildred Louise Hilliber of Richmond.

By Judy Stockham

grave marker photo: Karen Hanna, findagrave.com
service record: National Archives, London, England

 

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