John James Hoppes signature

John James Hoppes, a clerk from Kingston, was conscripted on this day in 1918. Hoppes was born in Deseronto on October 17th, 1894, the son of Joseph Hoppes and Katherine ‘Kit’ (née Stokes). The family were still in Deseronto at the time of the 1901 census, but had moved to Kingston by 1911. John James married Julia Beaupre Pound in Kingston on September 11th, 1917.

Hoppes joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3060377. He was five feet nine inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. The draft form noted that he suffered from tachycardia and was ‘inclined to obesity’. A medical board determined that he was only fit for home service. Hoppes was taken on the strength of No. 3 Battalion Garrison Regiment in Kingston. He was discharged on November 25th, 1918 as medically unfit for further service.

In the 1930s Hoppes was living in Montreal and working as a merchant and exporter: he made trips across the Atlantic to England in 1939 and 1947.