Returning a WWI medal to the descendants of John Ford of Hamilton

[Britjan]

Based on the interest generated by the wedding ring I wonder if anybody feels like taking up this challenge?
Here is a news item from today's paper that reads in part ...
" Military medal found in Hamilton prompts search for soldier


Medal from First World War soldier named John Ford of Hamilton was found 50 years ago.

Hamilton Spectator
A Manitoulin Island couple is hoping to locate descendants of a First World War soldier to pass on a service medal found on the Mountain half a century ago.

The medal with the name J. Ford and service number 28535 was picked up by the side of Nebo Road 50 years ago by then Mount Hope resident Paul Whelan.

"I was riding my bike, coming back from a buddy's place and I just happened to notice something shiny in the gravel along the side of the road. I thought it was a quarter or silver dollar and it happened to be this medal." he says.

"I just took it home and put it in a little box I had."

As the years went by, he forgot about it.

But several weeks ago the medal resurfaced — right around the time he saw a newspaper article about Dave Thomson of St. George, who has "repatriated" hundreds of military medals to families and museums." Here's the complete link .
As I am working I can't take it on today apart from going to the IWM site and remembering John . It's a chance to explore Canadian records for those of you have world wide subscriptions and some of the free ones mentioned in the resources.

 

[Britjan]

Took a few minutes on my lunch hour to gather a bit more information from the attestation papers and confirm his wife as Margaret both born in Ireland. So the trail spreads, John was born in Londonderry but I cannot decipher the name of the town.

 

[geewhiz09]

John Ford
Regimental Number: 28535
Survived War: Yes
Force: Army
Regiment: Canadian Infantry
Battalion: Canadian Infantry
Enlisted or Conscripted: Enlisted
Prior Military Experience: Yes
Enlistment Date: September 21, 1914
Age at Enlistment: 32
Enlisted at: Valcartier, Quebec
Civilian Occupation: Labourer
Survived
Date of Birth: December 13, 1882
Next of Kin: Maggie Ford, Wife, 289 Bay St. N., Hamilton, Ontario
Place of Birth: Londonderry, County Derry
Country of Birth: Ireland
Height: 5 Feet 8 Inches
NAC Reference: ^r3191 - 27
Canadian Infantry
Previous service with the 91st Regiment (Hamilton, Ontario) Militia.

 

[geewhiz09]

John Ford
Maggie Thomas
Marriage: Jul - Sep 1907 Coleraine 1 631 refers

 

[Carolyn]

Possible entry in 1921 census - right place. Has wife's name as Mayaret, but looks like Margaret to me. She is 39 and son John is 6.
Name: John Ford
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Age: 38
Birth Year: abt 1883
Birth Place: Ireland
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Mayaret Ford
Father Birth Place: Ireland
Mother Birth Place: Ireland
Year of Immigration: 1909
Racial or Tribal Origin: Irish
Province or Territory: Ontario
District: Hamilton West
District Number: 88
Sub-District: Ward No 4
Sub-District Number: 23
City, Town or Village: Hamilton
Street or Township: 21 Windsor St
Municipality: Ward 4
Occupation: Laborer
Income: 720

 

[Britjan]

Just a quick note that there is some controversy about Dave Thomson and a variety of views on his "repatriation" efforts. All of which makes me think that in general "remembering" the soldiers of WWI at the IWM "Lives" site is one of the best efforts we can make. I had hoped this might be a good way to draw attention to Lost Cousins and our forum. It appears John falls between any of the applicable censuses to make him eligible to be listed at LC but never mind we can press on a bit and see what materialises.

 

[geewhiz09]

Think this may be the travel info for the Fords' destination Hamilton.
John Ford age 26, Irish, Glasgow to Montreal dep 12 Jun 1909 ship Hesperian.
Mrs M Ford age 27, Irish, Glasgow to Montreal dep 11 Sep 1909 ship Ionian.
(Brother) Hugh Ford age 26, Irish, Londonderry to Montreal 21 May 1911 ship Ionian.
...............
Possible burial details
Name Cemetery County Township Reference
FORD, John White Chapel Memorial Gardens Wentworth Hamilton HM-170-1
FORD, John Y. White Chapel Memorial Gardens Wentworth Hamilton HM-170-1
FORD, Margaret White Chapel Memorial Gardens Wentworth Hamilton HM-170-1
FORD, Margaret (McGregor) White Chapel Memorial Gardens Wentworth Hamilton HM-170-1

 

[Britjan]

....we can press on a bit and see what materialises.

The "we" at the moment is geewhiz who has also been in private communication with me with updates so I wanted to publicly thank him for pressing on. I got a bit side tracked with the whole "remembering" thing and the current state of the IWM project.