James Bernard Aughney

James was the son of James A. & Bridget Aughney. James A. was the brother of Luke Aughney. James A. and Luke were the sons of Patrick Aughney. Either James A. or Luke was the father of my grandfather Smith, Nide. TBD.

James Bernard, listed as “Bernie” in the 1940 census, was drafted into WW2 as well.

James B. Aughney VVeteran
Birth: 18 Oct 1895
Death: 18 Mar 1977 (aged 81)
Burial: Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, USA
Memorial #: 193768848
Created by: Little Orange in the Big Apple (46817308)
Added: 2018-10-05T20:47:51.000Z
URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193768848/james-b.-aughney?showinfopanel=true
Citation: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193768848/james_b-aughney: accessed January 22, 2025), memorial page for James B. Aughney (18 Oct 1895–18 Mar 1977), Find a Grave Memorial ID 193768848, citing Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, USA; Maintained by Little Orange in the Big Apple (contributor 46817308).

Alexander Cecil Pennell

Family rumor was that Alexander Cecil Pennell was gassed during the war and this was the cause of his death, so its with no surprize there’s no mention of “gassed” in his death certificate..  It says coma due to diabetes. Included in his military records is how they were treating him with insulin and watching his diet.

He is buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery at Ogleston’s Corners in Rutherglen.

Joseph Philip Peters

Joseph Philip Peters was born in 1838 in Newry, Armagh, Ireland.  He was Florence Maud Gallson’s grandfather.

Joseph signed up with the Royal Navy and served on the HMS Hastings in 1859 as a Seaman 2nd Class.

However, in the 1861 census, Joseph was onboard the HMS Topaze “a 51-gun Liffey-class wooden screw frigate of the Royal Navy” in the Esquimalt Harbour – yes, in British Columbia, Canada.

The crew of the HMS Topaze built the Race Rocks Lighthouse:

Race Rocks Light is one of the first two lighthouses that were built on the west coast of Canada, financed by the British Government and illuminated in 1860. It is the only lighthouse on that coast built of rock, (granite) purportedly quarried in Scotland, and topped with sandstone quarried on Gabriola Island. The Islands of Race Rocks are located just off the southern tip of Vancouver Island, about 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Victoria, British Columbia

And another interesting little jaunt that the HMS Topaze made  was going to Easter Island and digging up one of the moai statues, dragging it onboard the Topaze and offering it as a gift to Queen Victoria.  The lieutenant on the ship made a sketch of the moai (see above) after it was dragged onto the Topaze.

Joseph Henry Peters

WW1 – Volunteered in 1915 and was sent to the Eastern Front where he took part in heavy fighting in the Dardanelles. On the evacution of the Gallipoli Peninsula he was draftered to Egypt and served in the important operations in that theatre of war, but contract malaria. He was in hospital for some time, and was eventually demobilised in 1919. He holds the 1914-15 Star and the General Service and Victory Medals.

Joseph was born in 1895 in London, married Winifred Richards and was the brother of Florence Maud Peters, my grandmother.

Lester William Keech

Lester was born March 13, 1897, Ewen, Michigan. He served in the 228th Regiment.

Lester was the son of William Keech and Jane McNamara. Jane was the daughter of Elizabeth Pennell and John McNamara. Elizabeth was the sister of my grandmother, Alice Smith (nee Pennell).

In the picture below, Lester is in the 2nd row, middle.

The following is from Myrtle Connolly’s book “Growing Up On A Farm”.

How well I remember the day that my brother Lester came home from Camp Borden to bid us goodbye. How smart he looked in his uniform, so tall and handsome. He knew he would have to go so he enlisted in 1916. We didn’t see Lester again until May 1919, the ar ending November 11, 1918. The sick and wounded were sent home first.

Mother sent him a box of goodies every month. He received them all except three. He used to go to Uncle Johnnie’s in London on his long leaves. He also spent some time with his grandmother Mrs. Edwin Keech (Elizabeth Forsey). Lester was her first grandson. It was a real reunion. All she could talk about weas Father who left England at the age of seventeen.

Finally Lester called Mother that he was coming home and would be stopping at the Bay to see his grandparents, the McNamara’s, which was on a Sunday, but instead came home on Sunday, therefore, there was no one to meet him from our family. Mother was preparing a big dinner. I was the one that saw a soldier coming up the road. I called Mother and sure enough it was Lester. Everybody was excited. He had changed. The war had taken away his youth. He bumped his head on the door, then on the stovepipes. He said, “I guess I had forgotten that I am taller than the door and stovepipes.”

He just stay home a short time, then went to North Bay and got a job on the railroad as a baggage man. He decided that was not for him, became a fireman on the railroad, and then an engineer.

He married Eva McChesney, bought a bungalow beside his grandparents that his grandfather had built. During the war he brought supplies by railroad up the the front lines. With bombes dropping all around this was not the most desirable place to be.

Lester died February 21, 1957, sitting in his car on Main Street, North Bay. He was so looking forward to his retirement. He had two sons, William Albert, M. D., a graduate of Western University, and Gerald Lester, PH.D., McMaster University. Bill was in the Air Force during World War II, shot down over Belgium, a prisoner of Stalag III, was in the Great Escape, which was made into a movie, and also took part in the Wooden Horse Escape.

Mrs. Hugh Ferguson, a cousin, told me “that they don’t make men like Lester Keech anymore”. She bought his bungalow after his death.

“Growing Up On A Farm” by Myrtle Connolly, pages 15-16

George Mathew Pennell, Jr.

George Jr. was born March 22, 1883. He was the son of George Mathew Pennell Sr. and Charlotte Edmunds of Rutherglen, Ontario. George Sr. was the brother of my grandmother, Alice Smith (nee Pennell).

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.

George joined the war effort February 25, 1916 with the 159th Overseas Battalion, 1st Algonquin and had belonged to the 97th Regiment of Active Militia. He sailed on the S. S. Empress on October 31, 1916 to England. On August 31, 1917, he was hospitalized for a schraple wound in his back and he received the Military Medal for bravery.    He later was transferred to the 58th Battalion. He was promoted from Private to Lance Corporal.
On August 27, 1918 George was killed in action with R.F.B. (Retained Foreign Bodies) and the family legacy was that he died at the Battle on Mons. In fact, George’s sister, Emma, who married L.J. Rose, named her 10th child and first child after George’s death, George Mons Rose (although we all knew him in Rutherglen as Jiggs).

However, the Battle of Mons took place in November 1918, months after George was killed. On August 21–30, 1918, the 58th Canadian Infantry Battalion was in Arras and specifically on August 27 they had just moved into Bois du Sart, France.  George was among 30 “other ranks” killed on the 27th.  There were many small battles in the Hundred Days Offensive that eventually lead up to the Battle of Mons, which ended the war on November 11, 1918.

“Whilst taking part in the advance North West of Boiry-Notre Dame, he was hit in the head and instantly killed by an enemy machine gun bullet.” George is buried at the Vimy Ridge Cemetery in France.

Scroll the images below. The “M.M.” beside George’s name means he received a Military Medal.


Cecil Francis James

Cecil was born February 1, 1898 in Rutherglen, Ontario, to Eliza (nee Pennell) and John “Jack” James.

Cecil married Marie Tremblay and had two sons. From his will below, I can only make out the name of his 2nd son, Leonard.

He fought in World War I in the 12th Reserve, 1st Corp., 75th Battalion CEF, D Co., #3035764 and held the rank of Private. He was discharged May 12, 1919 and returned home in June of 1919 on the R.M.S. Mauretania.

UK World War I Service Medals and Awards Roll
Marriage of Cecil to Marie Tremblay

In 1950, Cecil was living in Kapuskasing, and later in New Toronto. He died February 12, 1959.

Cecil-James-2Marie-James-parcel-318

John Thomas Victor James

John was born December 29, 1887 in Rutherglen, Ontario. He served in the 59th Battalion during World War I. He was a member of Branch 23 of the Royal Canadian Legion in North Bay where he received a 50-year pin. He was also a member of the Orange Lodge and a founding member of the Elk Lake Masonic Lodge No. 507. John also spent some time in jail and he worked for the ONR as an engineer.

He married Annie Gertrude “Gerti” Smith, who was the daughter of Willard Smith and Mary Johnson on Rutherglen. Gerti was a widow, having married William Daniel Smith, and had one some “Billy”. Gerti and John had two daughters: Eleanor James and Ruth James. Gerti died in 1926.

John then married Julia McNulty and had three sons: Jack James, Dale James, Darwin James. All three of these sons spent time in jail and were known to be part of the notorious “Kelly Gang” of North Bay.

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