Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Sidney John "Jim" Wellsman

Male 1902 - 1942  (40 years)


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  • Name Sidney John "Jim" Wellsman 
    Born 18 Jun 1902  Poplar, , London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Residence 117 Grand Avenue S., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-417519 
    Died 8 Nov 1942  Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Buried Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I417519  Generations
    Last Modified 7 Nov 2024 

    Family Marguerite Jessie Sparks,   b. 25 Apr 1906, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. William "Bill" Wellsman,   d. Mar 2008
     2. Robert "Bob" Wellsman,   b. 1928,   d. 4 May 2010  (Age 82 years)
     3. Donald Wellsman,   d. 1954
    Last Modified 12 Nov 2024 
    Family ID F57892  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • HUSBAND SAVES SONS AND WIFE FROM COAL GAS

      Mr. and Mrs. Wellsman and Three Boys Saved From Asphyxiation

      A Galt family of five are recovering today from near asphyxiation by coal gas. "Another hour of the fumes and we'd have all been dead," believes the father, Sid Wellsman, 117 Grand avenue south, who awoke in time to save his wife and three sons from the gas.

      "I woke up about four o'clock yesterday morning feeling sort of queer and dizzy and sensing that something was wrong. I roused my wife and then when she started to speak she collapsed. My youngest son Donald, 7 was in the same room. I shook him and he fainted away just after opening his eyes," related Mr. Wellsman.

      What followed was something that Mr. Wellsman hopes he doesn't have to experience again. "I was scared. I thought I'd lost my entire family," he said.

      Gave Them Milk

      First he raised the window to the top, then got a bottle of milk and forced some into Mrs. Wellsman and Donald. Then he ran upstairs to where two other sons, Bob, 11 and Bill, 13, were sleeping. He pushed the window up in their room and then gave them some milk. He had to force Bob's mouth open, he said. Sometime during his rush through the house he called out a window to a passerby to telephone a doctor. Mr. Wellsman said he didn't know whether or not milk was the proper thing to give, but "I had to give them something and it apparently worked because it made them all sick at the stomach and seemed to help revive them."

      Had Just Moved In

      It was the first night the family had passed in the house as they had moved in the evening before. The gas came from a pipeless type of furnace and apparently went all through the house.

      Mr. Wellsman and his family were all up and about today but "we all feel rather rocky. The effect certainly hasn't all worn off yet," he said.

      The family had worked late the night before arranging furniture in the house but no one had noticed anything unusual. The youngest boy had complained of being cold and his father had wrapped him up in blankets. At the time he thought it strange that the boy should be cold, as the house was well heated. "But after' what happened early yesterday morning I remembered that he had been sitting close to the register in the floor most of the evening., probably breathed He some of the fumes that none of us felt. I remember noticing that he seemed to feel better after I put him in another room."

      Were Turning Blue

      Mr. Wellsman said that the boys in the upstairs bedroom were beginning to turn blue when he reached their room. He doesn't know just why he happened to wake up when he did except that he had been restless and hadn't been sleeping very soundly, possibly because he had worked at his job all day and then with the moving was overtired, he thought.

      About 1940

  • Sources 
    1. [S2697] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge, Mount View Cemetery Internet Link.
      In memory of/ Sidney J Wellsman/ June 18. 1902 - Nov. 8. 1942/ at rest /

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 18 Jun 1902 - Poplar, , London, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 8 Nov 1942 - Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth