Most Wanted


 Elusive People

When was this taken and who are the children?

At our reunion in 1984 this was circulated, identified as an 1897 Christmas photo taken at Waveney, George Gooderham's home, of 36 of his grandchildren. However there are a couple of mysteries. The baby in the very front was identified as a child of Charlotte Olive Gooderham nee Thompson. But George's daughter Charlotte died at age 3 so never married, and this can not be her baby. The legend also identified the photo as having been taken in 1897. But if that's true, the baby identified as Henry Stephen Gooderham, number 34, to the immediate left of the mystery baby mentioned above, can not be H.S. Gooderham because he was born in 1894 and would have been 3 in 1897 - much older looking than in this photo. So either this baby isn't him, or the photo was taken earlier. If the Xmas photo were actually 1896 and a couple of changes made to who is who, it seems to fit the data better. Another explanation for the discrepancies is that this is a composite photograph so some of the children's photos were pasted in and may not have corresponded to how they looked in 1897 (or even whether they had yet been born!). Do you recognize your ancestor? If so, please let us know!
Who were the eleven orphans?

We have heard the story that when William Gooderham followed James Worts and his son to York in 1832, he arrived in a party of 54 including family members, servants and eleven orphans who William adopted "in all but name". Who were the eleven orphans? Could the children have been orphaned on the boat by cholera in 1832 or had they been orphaned in England? What became of them once the family arrived in York (now Toronto)?
Who was the playwright John Thomas Gooderham Rodwell? Was he related to us?

"At the Templeman Library at the University of Kent at Canterbury there is a special theatre collection. Of interest is a collection of playbills dating back to the 1800s. There is a playbill advertising "THE YOUNG WIDOW" at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 14 November 1827. The author is a James Thomas Gooderham Rodwell (d. 1825). There is a playbill advertising Italian opera, featuring performers from the King's Theatre in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA and THE YOUNG WIDOW, at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 27-28 November 1827. Author listed as James Thomas Gooderham Rodwell (d. 1825). The YOUNG WIDOW also played at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, 19-20 September 1867. I am curious who this Rodwell is. With the names of James Thomas Gooderham it sure sounds as if he was related. The father of Sarah Rodwell (who married James Gooderham) was Thomas Rodwell." By Diane Laubenstein

 Mystery Photos

Who is the child in Sir Albert E. Gooderham's arms?

Our featured story: 1915 Sir Albert E. Gooderham, instrumental in creating Connaught Labs, was written by Christopher Rutty. He says: "The picture of Gooderham with the child was scanned from an article in the Spring 1962 issue of the University of Toronto Varsity Graduate magazine and was accompanied by another image of Gooderham at the Connaught Farm site. The caption said that the photo was a snapshot from a family album. I imagine both photos were from the same family photo album. I would think the photos were taken in the 1920s."
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If you have a copy of this please email william-info@gooderham-worts.ca

This is a composite or collage pasted together out of many individual photographs against a painted background. This copy from the Toronto Public Library is similar to the one that hangs in the Toronto Hunt clubhouse on Kingston Road, Scarborough. At the Toronto Hunt is a list identifying 45 people in the picture. They include James G. Worts and George Gooderham, who were Masters of Foxhounds for several years, as wells as James G. Worts Jr and Frederick Worts (possibly Thomas Frederick Worts b. 1857}, and also Mrs. Harriet Anne Leys, George Gooderham's daughter. There is also a copy in the Archives of the City of Toronto, identical to the Kingston Road one, but the Public Library copy has many small differences. In 1877 most of the people in the collage would have purchased a copy. If these have survived, in private hands, passed down from one generation to the next perhaps some of you or a cousin inherited one. Mary P.( Polly) Winsor is writing about the club's history She would be very interested in inspecting and comparing any other copies out there. Please email williamg-info@gooderham-worts.ca to discuss.
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Who is gathered here?

Can you identify the people in this photo?
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