OSLER FAMILY

This section contains photographs of relatives of William Osler.

There are portraits of his parents, Featherstone Lake and Ellen Free Pickton Osler, who emigrated from Falmouth, Cornwall, England in 1837. Featherstone, an Anglican minister, had been assigned to a parish in what was then a remote area of Canadian wilderness, centred around Bond Head, Ontario. The family later moved to Dundas, Ontario. Both of William Osler's parents lived long lives: Featherstone lived to be ninety and Ellen one hundred years old. They had nine children, eight of whom survived early childhood. Also included is one photograph of William Osler's brother Frank; the brothers bore a strong resemblance to one another.

The bulk of Osler family photos included here are of the family of William's cousin, Marian Osler Francis. Marian and her sister, Jennette Osler, visited Canada in 1866, along with Marian's son Percy Bath, a product of her first marriage (she had been widowed two years before). A few years later they moved to Canada permanently with Marian's new husband George Grant Francis, and lived in Montreal while William Osler was a student, then a professor, at McGill University. The three cousins had a close relationship and Osler visited frequently, as often to see Marian's children as to see Marian and Jennette. Osler always had a love of children and childhood games, but he was especially fond of Marian's children. Some of them came to see him as a father figure; his interest in their welfare lasted the rest of his life. William Willoughby Francis, his namesake, became the first Osler librarian when Osler's library was donated to McGill University after his death.

Osler and Neighbour Children at the Perram Farm, Tecumseth, 1855 or 1856 CUS_031-001_P

William Osler, William Francis, H.A. Lafleur, and W.S. Thayer at Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1891 CUS_046-005_P

William Osler, "The Widow Gross", Sarah Woolley and William Willoughby Francis in Saint John, New Brunswick, August 1889 CUS_046-031_P

Back of a Portrait of William Osler, "The Widow Gross", Sarah Woolley and William Willoughby Francis in Saint John, New Brunswick, August 1889 CUS_046-031_PB

William Osler, Nona Gwyn, M. Collis Sands, and Ottilie Wright in the Garden at 13 Norham Gardens, 1910 CUS_064-003A_P

William Osler with Niece Nona Gwyn and Ottilie Wright, Norham Gardens, 1910 CUS_064-004A_P

Back of a Photo of William Osler, Nona Gwyn, M. Collis Sands, and Ottilie Wright in the Garden at 13 Norham Gardens, 1910 CUS_064-003A_PB

William Osler with Niece Nona Gwyn at 13 Norham Gardens, 1910 CUS_064-005A_P

Back of a Photo of William Osler with Niece Nona Gwyn at 13 Norham Gardens, 1910 CUS_064-005A_PB

Informal Group Portrait in the Garden of 13 Norham Gardens, Oxford CUS_064-006_P

W.W. Francis Saving Old Documents Found at Ewelme CUS_064-082B_P

Back of an Informal Group Portrait in the Garden of 13 Norham Gardens, Oxford CUS_064-006_PB

Elsie Bethume, Mary (Osler) Gibbons, and Sir William Osler at New College, Oxford, 1911 CUS_064-009_P

Sir William Osler with Elsie Bethume and Niece Mary Gibbons, 1911 CUS_064-010_P

W.W. Francis and R.H. Hill At Work on the Osler Library Catalogue at 13 Norham Gardens, Oxford CUS_064-097B_P