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)
