A project honouring veterans who served Canada has been handed over to the Maple Ridge Museum and Community Archives.
The 'Honouring Those Who Served' project has been a year and a half in the making during which time researchers with the Maple Ridge Family History Group located hundreds of new records about local men, named on the Maple Ridge Cenotaph and Whonnock Lake plaque, who lost their lives during the First World War or shortly thereafter.
Group member Annette Fulford first undertook the research on her own initiative. The new information will be added to Fulford's findings and will be included in an online exhibit.
The interactive website, designed to enable a greater number of people to have access to the biographies, summerizes the war service of each veteran and their connection to the community. And, when possible, photographs of the men have been included.
Of 51 named men in the project, only one continues to elude researchers — L Griffin.
The other men, which, in two cases were boys of 15 and 17 years of age, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and were shipped off for England and France.
"We acknowledge that there may be names missing from the Maple Ridge memorials. The research files will become part of the archival collection at the Maple Ridge Museum and Community Archives. We invite the community to contact the Maple Ridge Museum and Archives if they want access to the research files. We invite anyone with more information or photographs will get in touch," said Shea Henry, the museum’s executive director.
A USB with the research was presented to Henry at a meeting of the Maple Ridge Historical Society, on Oct. 30.
The digital exhibit can be accessed at: https://mapleridgemuseum.org/honouring-those-who-served/.
The Maple Ridge Family History Group, a Standing Committee of the Maple Ridge Historical Society, has served the community since 1999.
In previous years they have undertaken four projects that describe the family ties that brought four individual families together in the region to build the foundations of this community.
For more information go to: http://mapleridgemuseum.org/about-us/family-history/.
