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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.
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Captain William Starkey Drewry spent more than a year overseas with the 61st and 10th Battalions. After being invalided back to Canada in 1917 he served as a recruitment officer in the U.S. William grew up in a prominent and wealthy family in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, Edward Lancaster Drewry, was originally from London, England…. Read More »
Private George James Henry Parker enlisted in Kenora, Ontario in January 1915 and served in France with the 52nd Battalion. He was married in England in 1918 but returned to Canada in January 1919 as a widower. George was born on 23 May 1894 in London, England. His parents, George James Parker Sr. and Mary… Read More »
Gunner Ernest Randall Wildman was born in Rat Portage, Ontario on 30 March 1899. His father, Ernest Edward Wildman, was from Toronto. Ernest Edward had been living in Rat Portage since at least 1891, working in the lumber industry. Ernest’s mother, Ethel Mabel Donaldson, was from Buckingham Township in Quebec, northeast of Ottawa. Ernest Edward… Read More »
Private Bertram Richard Savage enlisted underage in August 1916 and served with the 43rd Battalion in France and Belgium. He suffered gas poisoning but survived the war and returned home in May 1919. Bertram was the youngest son of Patrick Richard Savage and Mary Adeline Casey of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Patrick and Mary were both born… Read More »
Private Ernest Joseph Haight was born on 25 September 1900 in Cedar Lake, Manitoba. His parents, Edward Benjamin Haight and Elizabeth Annie Garvie, were both born in Ontario. They were married in 1885 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and they had at least six children: Edward Laurence, Gordon Joyner, Elizabeth Olive, Edith Annie, Ernest Joseph and Harold… Read More »
Private Thomas Petty enlisted in December 1915 and served overseas for more than three years. After the war he lived in England for a year before returning to Canada. Thomas was the son of Thomas Harker Petty and Sarah Pybus of Marske-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire, England. Thomas Harker and Sarah were both born in Yorkshire. They were… Read More »
Harold Edward Hamill was born 03 October 1897 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. He was the oldest son of Edward Hamill and Amy Jennings. His siblings were Lillian, Kathleen, William and Charles. His father died in 1909, the same year that Charles was born. Harold received his education in Kenora and entered service with the… Read More »
John Hardie Porter was born on 13 January 1896 in Udny, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. A small community, it is located about 20 kilometres north of Aberdeen. John’s father William Porter, a mason, was from Methlick while his mother Jessie Hardie was from Torphins, both within a 30 kilometre radius. The couple married on 7 July… Read More »
By most accounts James Allan McIntyre was born on 16 March 1888 in Orillia, Ontario. His parents James Stephen McIntyre, a carpenter/cabinet maker, was from Edgar, Ontario while his mother Emma Louisa Brunson, a nurse, was from Tiny, Ontario. The couple married on 15 December 1885 in nearby Wyevale, Simcoe County. Settling in Simcoe County,… Read More »
Private John Arthur Presley was born in Clarence Creek, Russell County, Ontario. His parents were Joseph Presley, a farmer, and Jane Conn. Joseph and Jane were both Irish and born in the Clarence Creek area. John grew up there and he was one of at least ten children. At some point he moved west and… Read More »
