Fonds CR-112 - Whitworth family fonds

Christiana Dorothy Whitworth (nee Mack) was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in October 1862. Her father brought Christiana to Canada in 1870, first to Ontario, then New Westminster, British Columbia. Christiana married Isaac Whitworth (1865-1937) on February 22, 1887, and three years later, they moved to Delta. Mr. Whitworth came to B.C. in 1886 and worked as an engineer at the Royal City Mills. He turned to marine engineering, and later started his own freighting business with the boat "Birdswell" that he built himself. Isaac was away for long stretches and Mrs. Whitworth looked after their growing family and farm on Slough Road. She travelled to New Westminster weekly to sell her farm products. In 1910 the family moved into Ladner, purchasing the D.B. Grant house on the corner of Stanley and Hotham Streets. In 1912 they built a new house next door (5067 47A Avenue). Mrs. Whitworth lived there until she passed away Feb. 12, 1957. Isaac and Christiana Whitworth had five children: Leona or Leonie (1889-1964), Olive (1892-1911), Fred (d. 1918), Lillian (1891-1912), and William (1894-1973). Leonie trained as a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital 1908-1910. In 1915 she joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a nursing sister and served overseas from 1915 to 1919. She received four medals for her outstanding service, including the Royal Red Cross. After the war Leonie pursued a career in public health and industrial nursing in Ontario. She met and married Dr. E.B. Oliver of Fort William in 1922, Dr. Oliver dying later the same year. In 1943, Leonie married Frank J. Seales of Niagara. After Mr. Seales passed away in 1948, Mrs. Leonie Seales came back to Ladner in 1952 to care for her mother. William Whitworth enlisted in WWI as did his brother Fred, who was lost in 1918 aboard HMS Galiano which foundered in northern B.C. waters. William co-captained the "Birdswell" with his father as it carried hay, oats, and other crops from Delta to market in Vancouver and Victoria. He later became captain on the Ladner-Woodward's Landing ferry. Captain Whitworth married Naomi Erskine in 1919 and they had two daughters.