 He was the sixth of 14 children, including two elder brothers who died in childhood.His father, born in Barrow, Alwinton, Northumberland, England (or possibly Jedboro, Scotland) on December 30, 1832, emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 17, later emigrating to Canada where he variously became a railroader, a hardware store owner (John Wanless & Sons), and a home heating furnace manufacturer in Toronto (where Wanless Park and several streets are named after one of their distant relations, also a John Wanless, a municipal alderman and educator).During his childhood and adolescence, William was educated in the schools of Charleston, Mount Forrest and Guelph, Ontario.