Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthDecember 10, 1896
Place of BirthKenora, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs. Catherine Tennant (mother), Kincardine, Ontario
Trade / CallingFurniture fitter
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number124433
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion70th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentLondon, Ontario
Address at EnlistmentKincardine, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentNovember 9, 1915
Age at Enlistment18
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details

Tennant, George William

Private George William Tennant was the son of George Tennant Sr. and Catherine (Kate) Margaret Lambert. George Sr. and Kate had at least five other children: Herbert Maxwell (1889), Francis Lambert (1892), Janet Louisa (1894), Charlotte Mary (1900) and Roland Judd Murray (1904). Most of the children were born in Port Arthur, Ontario but George was born in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) on 10 December 1896. When the 1901 census was taken the family was living back in Port Arthur. George Sr. was listed a miner that year and in 1911 his occupation was blacksmith. By 1914 the family had moved to the town of Kincardine in southwestern Ontario. George Sr. died there in February 1915 and he’s buried in Kincardine Cemetery.

George enlisted in London, Ontario on 9 November 1915. His address was Kincardine and his occupation was furniture fitter. He signed up with the 70th Battalion and trained with them for five months. On 19 April 1916 he was transferred to the 142nd Battalion (London’s Own). He suffered from health issues while training and he had a medical exam at Camp Borden in Toronto in September. He was found to have a goitre as well as pain resulting from an appendectomy that he’d had before the war. He was discharged from the army in Toronto on 17 November 1916, due to being medically unfit for further service. His brother Francis Lambert Tennant also enlisted. He was wounded at the Somme in September 1916 and returned to Canada a year and a half later.

George was married on 27 July 1920 in Listowel, Perth County, Ontario. He was 24 years old and his occupation was electrician. His wife, Nellie Carruthers, was born in 1899 in Tiverton, Bruce County, Ontario. Her parents were William Carruthers and Margaret Vallance. When the 1921 census was taken George and his wife were living in Toronto and he was a teacher. Their household included an infant daughter, Margaretta, and two of Nellie’s sisters, Mary and Annie Carruthers, who were both stenographers.

Little is known of George’s life after 1921. His mother died in 1939 and she’s buried with her husband in Kincardine Cemetery. By 1962 George was retired and he and his wife were living in Alton, Peel County, Ontario. His date of death and place of burial have not yet been found.

By Becky Johnson


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