Sir James Woods and the wreck of the RMS Republic
A St. Christopher House Century
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Sir James Woods and the Wreck of the RMS Republic
History is replete with details surrounding the 1912 sinking of the luxury ocean liner, RMS Titanic. Occurring two months prior to the opening of St. Christopher House, the Olympic-class liner’s collision with an iceberg off the Grand Banks is well documented. Forgotten in time though, an earlier nautical disaster. Occurring three years prior was a mishap involving the RMS Republic.
It is no exaggeration when stating, the sinking of the Republic threatened the very founding of St. Christopher House as we know it.
Before the Titanic, the RMS Republic had been billed as the most luxurious liner afloat. Then in 1909, while piling shark infested waters off Nantucket, the Republic,andthe Italian steamer,the SS Florida,collided.The results were catastrophic. Miraculously, the Florida limped to shore, while the Republic came to rest on the ocean floor. Included on the passenger manifest of the doomed Republic was the individual (along with his wife and one of their five children) who three years later would play a pivotal role in the establishment of St. Christopher House.
Several persons are rightly credited with contributing to the founding of St. Christopher House, but only one, Sir James Wm. Woods, may be bestowed the title, founding father. Born in Woodstock, Ontario in 1855, early on, he went to work in his father’s shop. At nineteen, Woods picked up and moved to Toronto. Soon after, he found work as an entry clerk with the firm, Gordon-Mackay Co. In its day, Gordon-Mackay was the largest dry goods supplier in Canada. Woods began on the bottom rung, as an entry clerk, earning twenty-five dollars a month. Through diligence, good business sense and resolve, James Woods would eventually ascend to the position of company president.
Naturally, wealth followed. In addition to heading Gordon-Mackay, Woods was also president of several business and charitable enterprises. Accomplished in business, Woods’ philanthropic endeavours placed this exemplary individual well above other successful businessmen of the times. In an interview, Woods once told a newspaperman, unambiguously, “The rich do not work hard enough,” that, “Character, not commerce, is the principle,” one must aspire to.
James Woods set the bar high. In 1911, the Presbyterian Church approached, petitioning him to contribute to a local settlement house being organized, known as, St. Christopher House. Contribute, indeed. As was Woods’ manner, he went at the task with a full head of steam, not only purchasing the Wales Avenue building St. Christopher House initially operated from, but over several years, personally donating upwards of $150,000 towards the effort. (In today’s currency, that equals a staggering, $3.75 million.)
James Woods believed in the adage, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. For Woods, his commitment wasn’t merely about grand gestures. Instead, he became intimately involved with the operation of the House, no detail too small for his attention. Come Christmastime, he saw that every St. Chris child did not go without a gift. It is clear that Sir James Woods’ (he received a knighthood in 1919) contribution was more than just financial; he gave himself and his influence over to the development of St. Christopher House, and indeed, an entire community.
On the deck of the RMS Republic, imagine that chilled January morn in 1909. The choppy Atlantic swells. Suddenly from dense fog emerges the SS Florida, plowing a square blow into the portside of the Republic. Slumbering in their stateroom below deck, the impact throws James and Euphemia Woods violently from their bunk. Stunned, James takes a moment, collects himself. He checks on his wife. She is shaken, but okay. Same goes for their adult daughter, one berth over. The blow to the Republic is fatal. All power is lost; engines, boilers and dynamos. Already, casualties are being counted. Panicked passengers gather at muster stations. Still in night clothing, the Woods are directed to the upper deck where stewards are preparing to abandon ship. Lifeboats, rope ladders are readied.
At this moment, James Woods, the as yet unrealized father of St. Christopher House, is fifty-three years. Where another man might concede their lot to fate, Woods instead affirms to himself, he will not sink to his destiny, but instead, rise to challenges ahead.
Arranging three deck chairs side by each, Euphemia sits to his right, his daughter to his left, taking both their hands, he waits upon rescue.
The author would like to thank Susan Woods, great granddaughter of Sir James Woods, for her assistance in the writing of this article. An organizing committee consisting of volunteers, staff and board members has been formed to plan St. Chris’s centenary. The Century Committee meets every second month. Those interested in participating, passing along their ideas or sharing a memory, may contact Lidia Monaco at 416 532-4828 (234), or, lidiamo@stchrishouse.org
