The bizarre story of a toddler kidnapped by a child in Dundee in 1929 has come to light after a Canadian woman’s search for her family past.
Caroline Burns, was curious to find out more about a picture of her father, George Wood reunited with her grandfather Alexander Woods, which appeared in The Courier in 1929.
The picture has been in the family, now living in Canada, for years but Caroline did not know the full story behind the kidnapping incident, which took place on Thursday October 10 1929.
The DC Thomson archives (PDF link) revelaed George was just two years old when he was taken from outside Woolworths on Murraygate in his toy “go-car”.
He was later discovered in a close on the city’s Hilltown in his bare feet and stripped of most of his clothes.
Caroline said: “When I got the newspaper articles about my dad’s kidnapping I was beside myself with excitement.
“The picture of my grandfather and father being reunited was always a topic of conversation when I was growing up and for years we talked about contacting the newspaper but we never seemed to get around to it.
“I came across the picture recently when I was changing pictures in frames and decided it was time to see if there were any archived articles.”
The story was strange enough, but when the kidnapper appeared in court the following month, the Courier and Advertiser of the time revealed the criminal was only seven years old.
In an article dated November 11 1929 (PDF link), it was reported that, as well as stealing “a pantaloons suit, a jersey, and two pairs of socks” from George, the child culprit was also charged with stealing from an eight-year-old.
The court heard that the seven-year-old criminal was “beyond his parents’ control” and that he slept outside overnight.
His punishment was severe and he spent the rest of his childhood in the Baldovan Institution until he reached the age of 16.
Caroline said: “We knew very little about the story, only that he was kidnapped outside a store when he was two, was stripped of his clothing and left in an alley. We knew it was a child who had taken him for his clothing, but never would have guessed he was seven.
“I was, however, disheartened to learn that the child kidnapper was taken from his family and put in an institution until he was 16.”
Born in Dundee on September 30 1927, George Wood grew up to become an electrician and emigrated to Canada in the 1950s, with much of his family.
He died in January 2010, aged 82, and the famous “kidnapping picture” even appeared at his funeral.
Caroline added: “We don’t have any other pictures of him as a child. It’s great to be able to put the entire story together.”
Archive reports via British Newspaper Archive.