William Stodders, son of John Stodders, who was yeoman of Beldurbit, Ireland, and Jane Davis (nee Mrs. Faris). Received plan of area July 1, 1804. His father had come to Upper Canada in 1817 to look for land. He went back to Ireland and returned with his three sons, William, James, and Hugh, and stepson John Faris. William married Margaret Wilson in the parish Church of St. James, now St. James' Cathedral, in 1819. His license of occupation was granted April 7, 1819. The Stodders lived on the south half of Lot 10, Concession 7, which was called "The Oaks". Family name later became Stoddart.
This house, built in 1900 on the north half of Lot 15, Concession 7, was the home of Bert Stoddart and his wife Mary Jane (May) Hulse. From left: May Stoddart holding her son Baldwin Stoddart, Alice Hulse (May's mother), Hulse Stoddart. Men in the photograph are unknown.
Reynolds family. From left: Harry, Ed, Minnie, Olive, Bill celebrating Minnie's 80th birthday in November of 1958. She was born 1878 and died July 6, 1963.
Gwillim Group Committee members with Lieutenant Governor Onley, his wife Ruth Ann and Peter Van Loan. Back Row (l-r): Darlene Braybrook, Tom Fuller, Jennifer Gordon, Mary and Don Gardiner, Vera Stoddart and Peter Line. Middle Row (l-r): Natalie Dykie, Christine Houlieff, Brenda Winter, Zelma Fuller, Bill Marks, Joan Gibson, Mikki Nanowski and Judith Moses. Front: Lieutenant Governor Onley, Ruth Ann Onley and Peter Van Loan.
Description : Following four years of volunteer work by a team of members of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association, Governor Simcoe Slept Here - The Legacy of West Gwillimbury was launched on December 15th. In October, 2001 over forty people responded to the initial invitation to meet and discuss the possibility of writing a history of West Gwillimbury and they choose to call themselves WEGWHIST - West Gwillimbury History. The book was written by a team of 15 Bradford West Gwillimbury residents. Governor Simcoe Slept Here tells the story of the two waves of pioneer settlers to West Gwillimbury - the Scottish, Irish and English, who settled on the highlands during the 1820 - 1830 period and the European settlers who arrived a century later to the Holland Marsh. Churches, schools and hamlets are documented in the two volumes, along a CD which includes "The Many Faces of West Gwillimbury" as photographed by Franz Aschwanden, a listing of the Marsh Land Owners in 1949 and a Genealogical Index of the Families.
