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Event Date : Thursday, January 02, 1941
Event Type : Death

Description (pg 4) : At the home of his daughter, Mrs. Gerald Peterman, Bradford, Ontario, on Thursday, January 2nd, 1941, James McKinstry, in his 94th year. The funeral was held Sunday, January 5th, with interment in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Bradford.

"James G. McKinstry was born in the town of Bradford on December 4th, 1884. He enlisted on December 11, 1915, into the 10th Royal Grenadiers, who were later absorbed into the 123rd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force. The 123rd served in Canada until they embarked for England, on August 8th, 1915. McKinstry served at Bramshott Camp and was confirmed in the rank of A/L Corporal, in 1916. He was appointed A/Cpl. in 1917. In early February, 1917, the 123rd Battalion served overseas in France and Flanders, as a Pioneer Battalion. McKinstry remained in England as a instructor, but was dispatched to the front one month later, as part of the Canadian Corps below Vimy Ridge. In October of that year, the Corps moved to Flanders to aid the British in their autumn offensive. The attack on Passchendaele Ridge took several stages to complete. Cpl. McKinstry was killed in action at Passchendaele on October 21st,1917, and is buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, in Belgium. He was 31 years old at the time of his death. At the end of the offensive in November, the Canadian Corps had sustained 16,000 casualties.

Continuation of veteran biographies (see Related Description: "The noise of the aircraft, the guns..."): Gunner John Douglas Breeze, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Kneeshaw, Flight Officer James M. Booth, Corporal James G. McKinstry, Signalman Lester B. Woolven, Brigadier-General (Padre) Ormand A. Hopkins

This house is located at 28 Letitia Street. The street was named after Letitia Magee, the founder of the original subdivision in Bradford in the 1830’s. The name was later changed to Frederick St. to avoid confusion during emergency calls.

Early research notes on this home from George Jackson lists Jim McKinstry (Bob), a lumber mill worker, as an early owner of the property. The house on this property was built by Henry Bell, with assistance from some of his family members, in 1951, and the Bell family moved into the house in September of that year. Mr. Bell resided here until his passing in 1987. The home was inhabited by the Bell family until 2000.