Ernest W. Painter: CEF Beechwood

Ernest William Painter was born in Ilford, Essex, the son of Albert Henry Painter and his wife Matilda nee Russell. In 1891 the census shows the family living in Stratford, London with him working as a porter for a druggist. In 1894 he married Charlotte Louisa Boneheyo (1872-1955). The birth of their daughter Christa Florence (1899-1955) was registered in West Ham as were those of their sons Ernest Albert (1901-1970) and Philip William (1905-1979).
At the time of the 1901 census he was living in West Ham working making boiled sweets for a confectioner. He emigrated to Canada in 1907. His family arrived two years later after he secured a job as a messenger with the Department of Agriculture in Ottawa on 5 August 1909. By the time of the 1911 census the family lived at 264 Albert Street in Ottawa.
He attested for service with the 207th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Ottawa on 19 February 1916. He was a big man, height 6 feet 1 inch, and gave a birth date of 24 April 1875.
Admitted to Highland View Hospital, Amherst, Nova Scotia with pneumonia on 20 February 1917 he died there on the 26th. He was buried at Ottawa's Beechwood Cemetery on 1 March.