Private Alexander Eccles

Alexander Eccles was born in Preston, Lancashire, England. He moved to Blackburn, Lancashire as a child and lived there until manhood. He married Isabella Crook in 1889 and they immigrated to Canada in 1911 with their daughter. Their son John remained in Britain, where he enlisted during the First World War.

The family lived for six months in Ingersoll and then came to Paris where they remained. Alexander was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Paris and was a member of the International Organization of Good Templars, an abstinence society of the time. He was a tailor by trade, working first with Mr. D. McTavish, and then going into business for himself as a merchant tailor. According to the news article that told of his death, “his genial manner and upright life gained the confidence of everyone.”

When the First World War broke out, Alexander wanted to do his part, but after three unsuccessful attempts to enlist for overseas service, he enlisted for Home Defence at 47 years of age. He was stationed at the Welland Canal for seven months where he contracted rheumatism, which weakened his heart, and for two years he had practically been an invalid. Then he caught influenza during the Spanish Flu epidemic and died in his home on West River Street in October, 1918. He was 52 years of age.

Alexander Eccles is not considered to be a war dead by the Brant County War Dead or by the Canadian Virtual War Memorial maintained by Veterans Affairs Canada. But Homes of Heroes has a different view of loyalty, courage, and heroism. Alexander is buried in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Paris.