Elizabeth Collins Stoddard

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, as portrayed by Joan Bennett.

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was the matriarch of the Collins family in the 1960s and owner of Collinwood and the Collins Cannery and Fishing Fleet. She was the mother of Carolyn Stoddard.

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was played by Joan Bennett.

Family

Elizabeth had a brother, Roger (1, 2). Their father died in the mid-1940s and Elizabeth cried for days (17). She and Roger received an equal share of his inheritance. Roger quickly spent the entirety of his inheritance, having fun with the money, and put his shares in the family business up for public auction. Elizabeth was forced use some of her remaining inheritance to buy up the shares herself in order to keep it in the family (41).

Elizabeth's husband Paul left her in 1949 and she decided to become a recluse, remaining at the house until he returned (5). The same day, Elizabeth fired the entire staff of servents at Collinwood—maids, chauffer, gardener—and brought on Matthew Morgan, a cannery worker, to be the sole caretaker and do all of the heavy work around the house (6).

Six months later her daughter Carolyn was born (5).

In 1957, Roger testified against Burke Devlin in court, sending him to prison. Afterwards, Roger agreed to leave Collinsport and Elizabeth sent him money every month in return. Despite promising never to come back, Roger returned to live at Collinwood ten years later with his son David (10).

Business

Elizabeth owned the Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery (8). Ned Calder managed the business for fifteen years until 1967 when he decided he didn't want to work for her anymore. She told him she hoped she never saw him again and he moved away to Portland to work (39). Bill Malloy was promoted to fill in as manager (8).

When Burke Devlin returned to Collinsport a few months later and started stirring trouble, Liz feared that he'd try to financially destroy her, so she called called Ned and asked him to return to work for her. He declined, but she convinced him to think about it (1, 36,39).

Liz made all of the important decisions with the business, speaking with Malloy every morning (8). He also came up to see her at Collinwood once a week (1). In 1967, Liz approved a machine which increased canning time but resulted in no layoffs (39).

Elizabeth's legal affairs were handled by Garner and Garner, a Bangor law firm headed up by Richard Garner and Frank Garner (92, 94).

Life

In the 1960s, Elizabeth lived in Collinwood with Carolyn, Roger, and Roger's son David. She still hadn't left Widows' Hill as of 1967, having been there for eighteen years (1).

Elizabeth often played the piano (2).

Victoria Winters

In 1967, Elizabeth hired Victoria Winters from New York to come and be a governess and companion for David (1). She told Carolyn that she brought Vicki there to give her (Carolyn) a chance to get married and leave Collinwood (8).

Victoria was extemely curious about why she was chosen to tutor David, but Elizabeth was very vague about it, merely saying someone recommended her (6). Eventually, Liz forced Roger to play along and tell Vicki that an anonymous donor to the Hammond Foundling Home had recommended her (25).

Appearances

1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 32, 33, 36, 37*, 38, 39, 41, 42, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 218, 220, 223, 224, 228

*Sobbing is heard, but Elizabeth is not seen.