Regimental Number: 101379
Rank: Driver
Branch: Canadian Engineers
William was born on December 25, 1872 in Settle, Yorkshire, England. He married Hilda Blanche Cheney of Van Kleek Hill, Ontario in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The couple moved their way west, living first in Manitoba, then in Saskatchewan, and finally in 1912 settled on a homestead at 26-72-5-W6, east of Clairmont. By this time they had six children. Hilda was the first teacher of the Kleskun Lake school, which opened in 1913. William enlisted in the Canadian army in October of 1915 and served in England. On July 31, 1917, he was accidentally killed near Sherrington Crossing, Codford, Wiltshire. According to the 14th Field Company War Diary entry for that day, “#101379 Driver Kellett, W.J. found killed by train at Railway Crossing near Codford.”
Sources: Smoky River to Grande Prairie, p. 295