News

Oak Bay Remembers: Hampshire Road Methodist Church Honor Roll

4 November 2024

- work in progress autumn 2024 -

In the community holdings of Oak Bay Archives is a remarkable document hand written and decorated on black paper: the First World War roll of service from Hampshire Road Methodist Church, which existed 1913-1926 and was one of the predecessor bodies to the present day Oak Bay United Church. For the story of how this document came to Oak Bay Archives and was conserved, please see this article from the Oak Bay News, May 2019.

A brief history of Hampshire Road Methodist (later United) Church can be viewed here (Gary Wilcox, Oak Bay Encyclopedia)

Archival records of Oak Bay United Church and its predecessors catalogued on MemoryBC

The WW1 Honor Roll includes 24 names, transcribed below, most with rank and regimental abbreviations, which we hope will help to distinguish them from others with the same or similar names during identification. NB The term "Roll of Honour" is usually used when listing those who died on active service. This document is what's more often referred to as a Roll of Service, as it includes all who served, including those who returned.

For each name, we hope to be able to add their full names and life dates, further biographical detail, their Oak Bay address if any (bearing in mind church attendance is not aligned to municipal boundaries!), WW1 service record, and Find a Grave entry. For those who survived the war, more information may be available. For those who did not, we will try to link to their entries on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites.

We hope to discover the reason for the order of the list, since it is neither alphabetical nor by rank. Age? Enlistment date?

Links to Nominal Rolls of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (from Doing Our Bit)

Honor Roll (Roll of Service)

Abbreviations and ditto marks are expanded below to aid in online searches.

[col. 1]

Private A. Franklin, 50 Battalion.

  • full name
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private W.R. Stobart, 11 Battalion - William Ritson Stobart (1896-1974)

Private C.H. Mumford, 67 Battalion.

Private A. McKissick, 1st Pioneers. - Alexander McKissock

  • full name & life dates
  • Alexander McKissock (nominal roll)
  • Oak Bay address 1749 6th St (nominal roll)
  • service record - not found
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private F.S. Sandiford, 6th Engineers.

Private H. Johnston, 11 Battalion.

  • full name & life dates
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private R. Nelson, 103 Battalion - Robert James Nelson (1868/73-1955 )

  • father of John below.
  • attestation paper gives birth year as 17 April 1873, death cert 18 April 1868
  • claimed to be 42 on enlistment, may have in fact been 47
  • Methodist
  • Oak Bay address 2065 Bouchier [Bourchier] St Victoria (battalion nominal roll), later 2716 Cadboro Bay Rd (death certificate)
  • service record
  • BC death certificate
  • Find a Grave

Private J. Nelson, 103 Battalion - John Nelson (1896-1959)

Private H. Nelson, 143 Battalion.

  • full name & life dates
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private T.G. White, 103 Battalion.

  • full name & life dates Thomas George White
  • Oak Bay address 2257 Foul Bay Rd (nominal roll)
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private B. Francis, 242 Battalion - Byron Francis (1871- 1942)

Sergeant J.A. Hibberson, 68 Battery, 14 Brigade - John Arthur Hibberson (1881-1955)

[col. 2]

Sergeant G.E. Deakin, 62 CFA (Canadian Field Artillery) - George Edwin Deakin (1884-1973)

Private C. Oliver, 1st Pioneers - Charles Ernest Oliver (1871-1951)

Gunner C.B. Henderson, 5 CFA (Canadian Field Artillery) - Clifford Beaven Henderson (1897-1926)

L/C (Lance Corporal) D. Willis, 48 Battalion

  • full name & life dates cf Private David Willis (nominal roll of the 48th) - from Belfountain ON
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private F. B. Farquharson, AMC (Army Medical Corps) - Frederick Burt Farquharson (1895-1970)

Private W. White, 48 Battalion

  • full name & life dates cf Lance Corporal WIlliam Wallace White - maybe mixed up ranks with WIllis? same Bn.
  • Oak Bay address 2257 Foul Bay Rd (nominal roll)
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Sergeant H. German [section not noted]

  • full name & life dates
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private J. Herdman, 13 FA (Field Artillery)

  • full name & life dates
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private J.E. White, 103 Battalion.

  • full name & life dates - may be an error for JB White, Joseph Bridgewater White, 2229 Bowker Ave (nominal roll). His marriage certificate (1909) notes that both bride and groom were Anglican, and they married in the rectory at St John's (i.e. St John the Divine on Quadra). Their address is given as 367 Garbally Road, about 2.5 km from St John's. Once they moved to Bowker Ave, they would have found Hampshire Rd Methodist much nearer.
  • Not James White of 1038 Hulton St, (now Redfern) then in Oak Bay (?) - Roman Catholic. attestation paper
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private A.J. Francis, 242 Battalion

  • full name & life dates
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private G. Williams, AMC (Army Medical Corps)

  • full name & life dates
  • could be Pt George Thomas Williams, address 1715 Fourth St, could be the Oak Bay section of Carrick St.
  • Oak Bay address
  • service record
  • CVWM
  • CWGC
  • Find a Grave

Private E.C. Curry, AMC (Army Medical Corps) - Ebert Charles Curry 1879-1957

= end of list =