30 Days of Remembrance- Day 11- Kilner

Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-826

I decided to do a more personal post today and research soldiers of the First World War with my surname of Kilner. I already knew that none of my direct ancestors fought in the Great War but some family members did. I started by doing a search by last name only in the records of  Soldiers of the First World War and came up with 6 names

	Name	Date of Birth	Rank	Regimental number(s)	Reference
1.	KILNER, ARTHUR COLIN	18/05/1894		154590	RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 12
2.	KILNER, CLARENCE CARROLL	23/06/1892	LT		RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 13
3.	KILNER, DAVID JAMES	07/01/1898		678135	RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 14
4.	KILNER, JAMES ARTHUR	30/12/1875		446973	RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 15
5.	KILNER, JOSHUA	25/11/1879	LCP	808470	RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 16
6.	KILNER, THOMAS ROSS	10/05/1883	LCP	769974	RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5150 - 17

 I am related to at least two of the soldiers on this list: Clarence Carroll Kilner, and Thomas Ross Kilner were both first cousins of my great grandfather William Kilner. Their respective fathers William,  Edward, and Thomas Bamforth were brothers, born in England who each emigrated to Canada in the late 1800`s. My gg- grandfather was the eldest of the 3 cousins and the only one who was not born in Canada. By the time England, and by extension Canada, joined the war, William was in his mid 30`s with a wife and 3 small children. It must have been a difficult decision to make - to stand by and watch others go off to fight, or to leave his young family perhaps never to return.

Clarence Carroll Kilner on the other hand was already an officer and a member of the 109th Regiment when he signed up to the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Forces in 1916 at the age of 24.

I found no records to indicate where he spent the war years or whether he received any injuries but he did survive to return home to Canada in August of 1919. He married Vera Wright in 1922, had a son John in 1924 and lived in Toronto until his death in 1963, at the age of 70.

Clarence Carroll Kilner, courtesy of Ancestry.ca/kathyhogan66

Thomas Ross Kilner was born in Morrison, ON in 1883 but grew up in Toronto. He joined the Canadian forces there in January of 1916. One interesting thing I discovered upon reading his medical assessment was that he had webbed toes on his left foot- some current members of my paternal line also carry this trait, which I thankfully did not inherit!

Like Clarence, I have no records of Thomas R Kilner's time during the war but he also survived and returned home to Canada in June of 1919. He married Kate White in 1925 but had no children. I have not found a date of death for him.


Of the six men named Kilner from the above list who fought in WWI, not a single one was killed in battle. None the less, they all served their country and likely came back much different than they left. They deserved to be remembered and honoured for their sacrifice as well.

A Journey

Long before they arrived in Canada, my Kilner ancestors lived England. My great grandfather William Kilner who was born in 1882 was the last generation of our line to be born on English soil. I can recall Bumpy, as we called him, only vaguely as a tall but frail man who died when I was just 3. My grandfather Frederick Stanley Kilner was born 1911 in Toronto but made several trips to back to meet his relations when he was younger; sadly the connections he made there died with him and we've lost contact with those branches of the family. My family was not much for telling stories or keeping records of the past and it's taken some time to track their origins. On one of the few family photos, William was given a birth year of 1880 which led me on bit of goosechase- it would have made him born out of wedlock and there was a point where I wondered if we were really Kilners at all! Thankfully I uncovered a birth record with his correct year of birth in Horton, Bradford, from the BMD registry. In my research I also discovered that the Kilners we are descended from were originally from Huddersfield and were part of the thriving woolen industry there for many generations. From the records I have been able to uncover it appears they were actually quite well off - not only did they own their own business and the dwellings they lived in but many apparently held land and multiple rental properties as well. Which makes me curious - why would my GG Grandfather chose to leave behind an apparently good life for a new country like Canada?



Further research revealed that Thomas Bamforth Kilner, my GG grandfather, was the youngest of six surviving siblings (two older brothers died young). Thomas B's father, also named Thomas (and who I refer to as Thomas Jr), died in 1856 when Thomas B was barely a year old. His mother Anne Richardson Bamforth and all six children were left well provided for in a will dated just prior to Thomas Jr's death at the age of 44. It's reasonable to assume he was ill for a while and prepared for this eventuality; in his will he stipulated that his investments were to be looked after by a trustee and the proceeds were to be used for the living of his wife and children, then divided among his children when they came of age. Interestingly, Thomas Jr predeceased his father (Thomas Kilner Sr) by two years and an examination of that will shows that Thomas B and his siblings were also entitled to their father's share of a rather large estate. It seems that Thomas B should have come to Canada a fairly well off man! And perhaps he did; The Canadian Passenger List has them as Mr T. B . Kilner, occ/calling gent and Mrs. Kilner, lady. No other profession listed, he appears to be a man of independant means although his lifestyle in Canada wasn't one of wealth.

Thomas B, and my GG grandmother Mary Elizabeth Thwaite arrived in Canada in July of 1884. It would have been a long journey by ship, 3-4 weeks, made even longer for Mary Elizabeth who was pregnant at the time. Hilda Kilner, William's sister, was born in Sept 1884 in Wellington, Canada and grew up basically as an only child. Oddly, or perhaps not given the circumstances, William didn't travel to Canada with his parents but was left behind with his maternal grandparents. Perhaps they intended to bring him once they were established or maybe they wanted him to receive a proper education back in England, but for whatever reason, William didn't come to Canada until he was 16 years old! Family memories hint that Mary Elizabeth was unhappy in Canada, and that she and Thomas Bamforth were often estranged- perhaps she just missed her son. Records show that she made several trips back to England with Hilda for long periods of time, and on one of those trips she brought William back with them. He settled here, married and built a life, apparently never looking back to the country of his birth.


Tomorrow I begin a journey of my own, to see the land where Thomas B, Mary Elizabeth and William Kilner began their journey. It's my first trip across the Atlantic, and as I think nervously of seven hour flight ahead of me, I remind myself of the 3 week journey my ancestors took so long ago.