Potter-StClair-McGee c1940

This family gathering is in the backyard of the StClair home in Vancouver (I'm guessing that it is 1940 something).

In the back row (left to right) is Allan Potter and Stuart StClair;
in the next row is Allan's wife Nellie and then Helen McGee (Alwyn's wife); in the bottom row are Evelyn McGee, Jessie StClair, Alwyn and Helen's daughter (no name is given on the back of the photo) and Lilian McGee-Smith (Aunt Lil - Lily Potter McGee-Smith).

Now, I know that Allan, Jessie and Lily are siblings (see 'Potter heritage c1912' post). Evelyn and Alwyn are Lilian's children (as is Irene - who is not in this picture). Lilian McGee-Smith was married to a McGee (a Robert McGee appears as a boarder in the 1890 census) and were divorced.

Sinclair heritage WWI - 1917

Robert Sinclair James Sinclair

James and Robert came to Canada from Orkney, Scotland. They worked between then and 1917 as farm labour (just look at their hands) in Meskanaw, Saskatchewan. I imagine the lure of good wages ($1.10 day) in the army and the romance of wartime adventure was irresistible when portrayed by the recruiting officer who came through the area late in the war seeking fresh recruits for the war in Europe. Jim and Robert ended up in the 28th Battalion as signalmen. The brothers were both at Vimy Ridge and survived the war - though Jim was severely wounded sometime after the main attack on Vimy Ridge. He lost an eye, the hearing in one ear and had shrapnel all down his left side - shrapnel that, for the rest of his life, would work its way to the surface and emerge as a reminder of his service to Canada - and his adventure away from the farm. Robert was at Vimy and at Passchendale and left a diary of his experiences as quiet testimony to the grim realities of his adventure.