Pte. Robert E. Emery 93rd Batt. June 11, 1920

Robert Edward Emery 195069

Robert Emery was born in Dummer Township on May 30, 1898 to parents Robert R. Emery and Minnie Mayhew.  The family farmed lot 8 on the 9^th concession of the township.

Robert's birth record showing May 30 1898 birth

Robert's Attestation paper, notice the alternate birthdate
of 1897 making him 18, the legal age for enlistment.

On October the 9^th, 1915, Robert enlisted into the 93^rd Peterboro Overseas Battalion in Peterborough, Ontario.  He indicated that his occupation was a farm labourer, and that he had no previous military experience.  He was 5 foot, 7 inches tall, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair.  His religion was listed as Baptist. Curiously, the attestation papers list his birth year as 1897, which would put his age at 17 years, 4 months.  Another irregularity is that his next of kin falsely lists his mother as: “Mrs. Walter Emery (mother)”.  These anomalies would indicate that Robert might have actually enlisted at age 17, an age that required a parent’s endorsement.  Is it possible that his mother Minnie Emery (who was still living), would not let him enlist at such a young age, and so he presented the recruiting official with a false next of kin?

How long Robert remained in the ranks of the 93^rd is not yet known to the author at this time. Handwritten onto his attestation form is a note that indicates he was transferred to the 4^th Pioneer Battalion sometime after enlisting.   It is highly probable that Pte. Emery was reassigned to the Pioneers, when the 93^rd Battalion was broken up after reaching England in 1916.   

Robert survived his wartime experiences and returned home, though in poor health.  He died at his family’s home on the 9^th Line in Centre Dummer on June 9^th, 1920.  A month prior to his death, Robert was employed with J.W. Edwards, butcher, on George street in Peterborough.  He had recently suffered from a severe cold and had been given a week’s holidays to recuperate.  During this time Mr. Emery got up from the verandah of a house he was visiting one night and dropped dead.   His cause of death was listed as “organic disease of the heart”; the physician also noted that his condition was exacerbated by having been wounded and gassed in France.  Close to 50 returned soldiers attended his funeral in Hastings. Even though Pte. Emery survived the war to return home, because his premature death was largely due to his war time experiences, he was commemorated on the Dummer Township cenotaph as having died in the Great War.   He is buried in the neighboring village of Norwood, Ontario where he spent much of his childhood.

Sources:

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. MS 935, reels 1-615. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada.
Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. MS 929, reels 1-245. Toronto, Ontario,
Canada: Archives of Ontario.
Canada. "Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918)." Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 - 35.
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Peterborough Evening Examiner. “War Veteran Dropped Dead.” June 14 1920. P.10
Peterborough Evening Examiner. “Norwood News.” June 17, 1920. P.6