Hello satty,
Richard Barrow Gaskarth or Barrow as he was known to everyone, was my Great Grandfather's (John Lishman Gaskarth) brother.
The family home was at 6 Park View, Cartmel - now in Cumbria, south Lakes. Barrow was a plumber and worked with his father in the family plumbing and painting business in the village. Maud was from Halifax in Yorkshire and I own a really nice post card from Cartmel where Maud writes home to her parents. The couple left for Canada before the first world war and Barrow joined the army, in fact they were married at this time although I don't think he actually so service. This was in contrast to Lishman and his other brothers, the unmarried James being killed at Arras in 1917. There is a story that the couple stayed in Chicago for a short while and where shocked by the sight and sound of gangster's battling in the street outside the hotel.
Barrow's nephew William (Bill) Gaskarth (My Father's uncle) also emigrated to Canada after serving in the Royal Navy during WW2. Bill and his wife Jean (from Troutebeck Bridge) joined Barrow and Maud in a rapidly growing Vancouver but struggled to make a new life at first due in part to Barrow and Maud's indifference. Bill soon established a plumbing firm which may have been linked to Barrow, but I'm not certain about that, and is still in existence today in fragmented form. As a child I was lucky enough to visit 'Great' Uncle Bill on a visit to Canada which was very exciting.
The Gaskarth family have links to Ulverston , where Joseph (Barrow's Father) was born and prior to this Buttermere. The family is proud of its Norse heritage, which has a good chance of being true!
Joseph's wife Grace who was a Lishman from High Cark, just outside Cartmel, has direct links to people living and working in Cartmel in 1618.
Barrow appeared to have visited Canada several times before he and Maud settled and the Vancouver which they found was largely a 'shanty' town very different from today and hard to imagine, perhaps he still had some of that Viking spirit!
Most of the family lie in the grave yard opposite the race course in Cartmel, 2 minutes walk from Park View cottages and both James and Barrow are commemorated there.
Hope this is useful, I'm new to this so I'm not sure when you sent you post.
Rugee
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Topic: richard barrow gaskarth (Read 2805 times)