Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | August 25, 1888 |
Place of Birth | Long Sutton, Lincolnshire |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | Thomas Miller Brown, father, 1414 Cay Avenue, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
Trade / Calling | Clerk |
Religion | Church of England |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | Can 151319 |
Service Record | see images below |
Battalion | Royal Air Force (Canada) |
Force | Air Force |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
Date of Enlistment | October 22, 1917 |
Age at Enlistment | 29 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | July 1, 1938 |
Age at Death | 50 |
Buried At | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Burnaby, British Columbia. |
Plot | Crescent Section, lot 110 space 4 |
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