Lt.-Col. Dr. Thomas William
Herbert Young, M.D,. O.S.J.J.
Dr. Young was a British stray. He settled in Manitoba
in 1885 with most of his brothers and sisters, when his father, Dr. Francis
Verschoyle Young, M.D. permanently took up residence in the Plum Creek
Settlement. Immediately, he began his studies at the University of Manitoba
in Winnipeg. He was an active player of the Plum Creek/Souris Crickett
Club and was a member of the Football Club. He was mentioned numerous times
in the Brandon Sun sports column.
The social column of the Brandon Mail mentioned
on the 20th March, 1890 that Will had been elected club captain of ÔThe
Plum Creek Cricket ClubÕ which had been organized in 1882. His brother
Ainslie [see his biography] was elected to the executive committee. The
newspaper continued with the following quote ÔMr. Young, the club
captain, has donated an average bat to be presented to the member of the
club who scores the greatest number of runs during the SeasonÕ.
In June, Will and Ainslie are mentioned as being on the Plum Creek football
team. Will had his nose broken twice while playing football, and he had
no sense of smell whatsoever. He was able to play numerous jokes with that
handicap.
Obviously, the young men remained loyal to their hometown and travelled
by train and stage on weekends from their living quarters in other communities
to play their various sport for their Plum Creek teams. During the summer
recess from school, Will would be living in Plum Creek.
Dr. Young graduated from the University of Manitoba
and made plans to study medicine at Trinity Medical School in Toronto.
In the early 1890Õs, he was given letters of reference from Senator
John Nesbitt Kirchhoffer and his wife Clara of Brandon and Souris. Clare
Howard Kirchhoffer was the sister of the wife of Senior Judge of Toronto
and York County, Ontario, namely, his Honour Judge Joseph Easton McDougall,
son of the Right Honourable William McDougall, C.B., Father of Confederation,
first desiginate Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and Governor of RupertÕs
Land and the Northwest Territories.
Dr. Young completed his medical studies and eventually
settled and established his practice in Peterborough, Ontario, where his
motherÕs Wallis family cousins resided. Thus he became a stray living
in Ontario. Soon he was commander of the Peterborough Regiment. He married
Ethel Amelia Maude McDougall, daughter of Judge McDougall and granddaughter
of the Hon. William McDougall. He entered the Great War as a Lieutenant-Colonel,
similar to his brother, Ainslie, who had remained in Souris and was now
Lieutenant-Colonel of various Manitoba regiments. Both brothers went overseas,
as did Souris district resident and settler, their brother, Major Francis
(Barney) Verschoyle Young Jr., a veteran of the Afghan War of 1878 and
the Boer War of 1900-1902.
Dr. Young was with the Canadian Medical Corp and
excelled himself in the trenches. He was mentioned in dispatches and returned
to England to command various Canadian military hospitals. In 1916, King
George V annoited him with the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the highest
medical honour possible and presented him with an engraved ceremonial sword.
Before the WW I, he had becoming the sitting Peterborough County representative
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. When he returned
from the war, he resumed his seat on the College board. In 1927, he was
elected President of the College.
He raised a family of three sons and one daughter,
three who became medical doctors. One son was a hotel management executive.
Dr. Young always maintained his ties with his Manitoba family and his nephew,
Stewart Alfred Dudley Young, born and brought up in Souris, was a constant
visitor to Dr. YoungÕs Peterborough and cottage residences. Dr.
Young died on 13 April 1944.
(Extracts from a Work in Progress: Mosaic: A Multi Family Saga by John
H. M. Young & Professor M. June Ross)
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