"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."

"Had Come from Toronto Thursday - Went Bathing After Day's Work

Mushaelo (Michael) Bohoniuk, 25-year-old Ukrainian, of 70 Runnymede Rd., Toronto, was drowned in the Holland Marsh irrigation cala, at a point where the canal skirts the rear of Mr. J.W. Wilson's farm, late Saturday afternoon.
The drowned man, it appears, had come up from Toronto on Thursday and had secured work with Anglo del Zotto and F. Bollsanelo, market gardeners. Having finished work on Saturday afternoon, he had decided to bathe in the canal. Undressing and donning a pair of trunks, he left his clothes in his employer's shack, started out apparently for the canal, and nothing further was seen of him alive. ..."

An image of a card of thanks to the people of Bradford for their support, printed in the newspaper. It is related to the drowning of William Sutherland in the Holland River and is from his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Alex Sutherland.

Description : Dr. James Cummings killed, wife injured in auto accident.

"Gilford - a Gilford woman was killed and two persons were sent to hospital in a traffic accident Wednesday (Jan. 14).
Jean Taylor, 69, was fatally injured when the car she was driving southbound on Highway 11 struck another head on, Bradford OPP report.
The accident happened at about 12:30 p.m., near the 11th Concession. Mrs. Taylor's car was on the wrong side of the road, police report.
Raoul Tremblay, 76, of Churchill, was driving the northbound car. He and his daughter Violet were taken to York County Hospital.
Approximately $14,000 damage was done to the two car.
Bradford OPP are investigating the accident. No charges have been laid."

"John Allan Law, 52, was killed outside his home at Stroud on Thursday night a few hours after he had attended the funeral of a lifelong friend. Law was struck by a car after he stepped off a bus that had brought him from Peterborough where he had attended the funeral."

Article on the total number of people injured and killed due to train related accidents in one year (1908). The majority were railway employees.

Contains news clippings and articles on various fires of Bradford West Gwillimbury; articles ranging from 1864 - 1958

Contains news clippings and articles on various disastrous events of Bradford West Gwillimbury; includes fires, Hurricane Hazel, drownings, explosion, train wrecks

"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..."