"Charges of neglect have been laid against the mother of the 12-year-old girl who drowned in the Holland River on Monday, August 5, according to the Executive Director of the York Region Children's Aid Society, Donald Van Camp.
Eleanor Lowder, mother of Betty Lowder, the girl who drowned, has been charged under Section 40 part (1) of the Child Welfare Act which makes it an offense for anyone to leave a child unattended for an unreasonable length of time without proper supervision. Under the provisions of the act the maximum fine the court is able to impose in such a case is $200 and a maximum one year prison term.
Hearings on the charge will take place in camera on September 3 in Newmarket family court.
The surviving five Lowder children are in the care and custody of the Children's Aid Society, according to Van Camp. After the accident one of the children was in the care of relatives, according to him, but now all are with the society.
Any inquest into the drowning will have to wait until the charges have been taken care of by the courts, according to Dr. Robert Seaver, who is acting as coroner in the case.
"Its all up in the air right now," said Doctor Seaver, "any charges will take precedent. Until some of these things are straightened out," he said referring to the charges, "we can't go ahead." He is also waiting on further details on the accident to become available from the police and the autopsy report.
The possibility of an inquest will still be up in the air, according to Dr. Seaver, until it is decided if some particular aspect of Betty Lowder's death has to be "...brought out."
The police will only be acting as witnesses and assisting the Children's Aid Society in this case according to Deputy Chief Robert Hood of the York Regional Police. Police could have laid the charge against Mrs. Lowder, but they deferred to the Children's Aid Society in the case.
The drowning was the first case in which Bradford firemen were called to the Marsh area which recently switched to Newmarket for its fire protection. The Bradford department's answering of the call raises the question of the $800 charge which King Township is supposed to pay when the Bradford department enters King.
When asked about the fee and whether it will be charged, Bradford mayor Joe Magani replied, "If someone is drowning and we coulz be of some assistance, I don't think its a matter of dollars and cents."

"Following an accident on Wednesday, April 14, on Highway 88, west of Middletown Rd., a car driven by a Bradford man went into the ditch after police say he tried to pass a car which had stopped to make a left turn. A vehicle driven by Giovanni Capociama, 65, of R.R. 1, Bradford, was travelling west along Highway 88 and had slowed to turn left onto Middletown Rd. According to police, a second westbound car attempted to overtake Capociama on the left, and skidded into the ditch on the west side of Middletown Rd. The driver and passenger of the second vehicle, Christopher J. Fawns, 17, of Bradford, and Una Fawns, 16, sustained cuts and bruises. Mr. Fawns was charged by Provincial Constable Lorne Yakiwchuk of the Bradford detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, with careless driving and improper passing."

"Excessive Speed is Cause of Fatal Accident on Highway 11
William J. Lees, 28, of 612 Harvie Ave., Toronto, was instantly killed late Saturday afternoon when the car he was driving swerved off the highway south of Mr. Clarence Wood's gateway, snapped off a Hydro pole in the ditch, and threw the driver partly out of the right window..."

Bradford Witness
Vol. LXVIII, #04
January 25, 1933
Page 1

"Life ended suddenly on Monday afternoon for a 12-year-old Holland Marsh girl who went swimming in the Holland River. Betty Lowder, R.R.2, Newmarket, was swimming under the bridge at the intersection of No. 3 Concession and the Graham sideroad with her brothers and sisters, when she submerged in the middle of the murky river in about eight feet of water. There were no adults present..."

" 'Could the life of one child have been saved and the lives of five others been improved if the Children's Aid Society had acted sooner?' This is the question that Mrs. Carol Simone keeps asking herself after the drowning on Monday of her neighbor's child, Betty Lowder, aged 12..."

Article features news on recent accidents on the highway and with near-drowning experiences, an abundance of water supply compared to surrounding areas, a backlash to a Globe and Mail editorial about the poor quality of farming life, and traffic congestion.

Event date: January 3, 1941
Event type: Death

Description: "Bradford Pa., Star; Funeral services for Daniel Howe Neilly, 86, of the Derrick City road, who died at 12.05 o'clock Wednesday morning at the Bradford Pa. hospital from injuries received when he was struck by a car on Christmas Eve, were held at 2.30 o'clock Friday afternoon at the McAllister funeral home. ... Mr. Neilly, who was known as "Uncle Dan" to many, was well-known in this section, where he had resided for the past 33 years." ...

"Mr. Max Bemrose, driver of the car in which five young Bradford people were riding, had his ability for quick thinking in an emergency tested, and found not wanting, last Sunday night, when, bit for his instant decision, all would have been struck be the northbound flyer at Lefroy crossing.
The party, Misses Rae and Mary Green and Audrey Lang, Don Willson and Max Bemrose, the driver and owner of the car, had left Mr. G.G. Green's cottage at Stoney Point a short time before taking a friend to Barrie. They were returning to the cottage where Mr. and Mrs. Green were waiting for them, and, as the train was twenty minutes late, they believed it had already passed, consequently it was not until they had drove opposite the vacant lot adjoining the tracks and got their first unobstructed view that they had any intimation of the approaching danger. Then it was too late to cross ahead of the train or stop clear of the tracks so Mr. Bemrose turned his car toward the ditch. All would have been well had not the high side walk been in the path of the car, turning it over, tossing the occupants and wrecking and breaking the glass in the car.
All five were badly shaken, cut and bruised, but after receiving medical attention from Dr. McCallum of Churchill, were moved to Mr. G.G. Green's cottage. The three girls are still confined to bed but no alarm is felt for their condition. The young men are about town but both carry marks of the accident.
The car is badly wrecked."