Military Service Records, RCL Zone F-4, Branch 519: Burnt River, Coboconk & Norland
Jan Briggs-McGowan et al
Panels
IntroductionJan Briggs-McGowan et alBook of Remembrance - First World WarKilled in ActionService Records: Adair to CarterService Records: Carter to HannivanService Records: Harvey to PeckService Records: Peel to SymonsService Records: Taylor to WoodcockIndex to RCL Branch 519 Book of RemembranceThe '52 Natural': Voice of the Canadian Grenadier GuardsAddendumMemory ProjectLinks
Royal Canadian Legion - Memory Project (Zone F-4)Royal Canadian Legion (Zone F-4, Branch 519)Jan Briggs-McGowan joined the Royal Canadian Legion in honour of her family’s service. Her father, daughter, aunt, uncles and her father's cousins all served the Canadian Armed Forces, including a great-uncle who had been Killed in Action in World War I.
As a member of the Royal Canadian Legion branch 519 Coboconk, Jan Briggs-McGowan found plaques on the walls with names and dates, but no one seemed to know anything more about these individuals. When she learned they were all Branch members and war veterans, she felt it was important to record their lives and service to the country.
Briggs-McGowan teamed up with other local historians, including Vernon and Jack LeCraw, and they began to research. She photographed and transcribed tombstones. Barb Barkwell contributed a box of old veteran applications. When Canada declared 2005 to be ‘Year of the Veteran’, Briggs-McGowan interviewed as many veterans as she could to record their stories for inclusion in the collection.
The project resulted in the profiles of over 300 service members from the Coboconk, Norland and Burnt River areas, which she donated to the Kawartha Lakes Public Library.
Vern LeCraw
Francis Vernon Le Craw (December 21st 1921. - September 21, 2012) combined his strong sense of community with his passion for historical research and authored the Land Between: a History of Laxton Digby Longford. He did an enormous amount of genealogical research, compiling a collection of pioneer family histories of the Laxton Digby, Longford area, which was donated to the Library after his death.
As a member of the Royal Canadian Legion branch 519 Coboconk, Jan Briggs-McGowan found plaques on the walls with names and dates, but no one seemed to know anything more about these individuals. When she learned they were all Branch members and war veterans, she felt it was important to record their lives and service to the country.
Briggs-McGowan teamed up with other local historians, including Vernon and Jack LeCraw, and they began to research. She photographed and transcribed tombstones. Barb Barkwell contributed a box of old veteran applications. When Canada declared 2005 to be ‘Year of the Veteran’, Briggs-McGowan interviewed as many veterans as she could to record their stories for inclusion in the collection.
The project resulted in the profiles of over 300 service members from the Coboconk, Norland and Burnt River areas, which she donated to the Kawartha Lakes Public Library.
Vern LeCraw
Francis Vernon Le Craw (December 21st 1921. - September 21, 2012) combined his strong sense of community with his passion for historical research and authored the Land Between: a History of Laxton Digby Longford. He did an enormous amount of genealogical research, compiling a collection of pioneer family histories of the Laxton Digby, Longford area, which was donated to the Library after his death.
