43 Trafalgar Road - Henry Chadwick Scholfield and Alexandra Sutherland Scholfield

While owned by Henry Chadwick Scholfield, it was primarily lived in by his mother-in law, Maria Sutherland and two of her daughters Irene & Grace.

This property was initially owned by William Chisholm & sold to Justice W. Williams in 1837. In 1872, upon Williams’ death, the property was willed to his daughter Cynthia Ann Griffin. In 1897 the property was sold to Joseph Boone whose house sat next door to the north. The property found its way back into the Chisholm family until being sold to Henry Chadwick Scholfield in 1909. A year later, the present house would be built. The likely architect for this house was George N. Molesworth. At the time, Molesworth was an apprentice at the architectural firm of Eden Smith, who had designed a house for Scholfield’s brother George in Toronto the same year. It was designed in the arts & crafts style for which both Smith and
Molesworth were known.

Although Henry Scholfield owned the property, it was resided in by his mother-in-law Maria Sutherland and two of her daughters Irene & Grace. Henry had been married to another sister Alexandra Sutherland in 1892 in Toronto where they continued to live.

Maria Sutherland was the widow of Dr. Thomas Sutherland who began his medical career in Simcoe County and relocated to Oakville in 1864. He died in 1890. The family were active members of St. Jude’s Church. Maria died in 1920 and in 1921 Henry Scholfield formally granted the property to Irene & Grace.

Henry Chadwick Scholfield was born in 1866 in Lloydtown Ont. He worked for the Dominion
Bank and eventually became manager of a branch in Guelph. In 1892 he married Alexandra Sutherland and they had two children, John Douglas (Jack) and Muriel. While in Guelph, Scholfield was elected as MPP for Wellington South in 1911 and became co-founder and president of Page Hersey, eventually moving the company to Toronto where the family resided at 9 Highlands Ave. When World War 1 broke out, their son Jack enlisted with the Cdn. Army Medical Corp. in 1915. In Feb. 1917 he was appointed to a commission in the Royal Flying Corps. as 2nd Lieutenant. Unfortunately, his plane went down during a flight training exercise in England in May 1917 and he was killed. Three years later, in 1920, Henry’s wife Alexandra died.

Continuing in politics, Scholfield was elected to the Legislature as MPP for St. George in 1926. He retired from politics in 1934. In 1932 he married Alexandra’s sister Irene, but their marriage was short lived as he died in 1935, with Irene passing the following year.

In 1936 the estate was settled and the property was purchased by Gordon Stewart
Gooderham, the great grandson of William Gooderham who founded “Gooderham & Worts” with his nephew James Worts in 1837. The property remained in the Gooderham family until 1965.