FATHER'S DAY, Jun 19, 2016 - 3 Generations of GILLESPIE fathers

My father, his father, and his father... a line of GILLESPIE men in our family. Photos are rather the worse for wear, coffee stains on dad's jaw for instance, scratches etc. on other photos.

1941: John GILLESPIE,
          Dad in his Army uniform, taken in Vancouver, BC, Canada
          1907 Cambusnethan Scotland - 1975 Burnaby BC Canada

1899: William John "Jack" GILLESPIE,
          Grandpa in engagement photo, in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
          1876 Augher Tyrone Ireland - 1964 North Vancouver ,BC Canada

1895ish: George GILLESPIE,
          Great-grandfather, from family photo, in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
          1851 Newton Tyrone Ireland - 1941 Barrow in Furness

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to fathers everywhere...

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No.38, Favourite Place: The Front Porch

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Large Family, and this week is "Favourite Place."  I've chosen photos taken on our front porch - several places, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The front porch - however small - was where we had many photos taken.  We always lived in rather small places, which we rented.  One black & white photo is at "KilKare" - my dad's parents' home in Deep Cove, North Vancouver, BC.  The other black & white photos are from 2033 Victoria Drive, at the corner of Victoria and McSpadden.  The Interurban trolleys used to run just down the block, between Victoria Drive and Commercial Drive. The house (and block) are now McSpadden Park, and our house would have been roughly where the sign sits.  The colour photos are from our house at 3250 Matapan Crescent, where we moved in January 1954.

Here's Mom in late August 1946, with 3rd child, Jake, and I can hardly stand not touching my baby brother!  Dad took the photo.






And the following summer, 1947, two big sisters carefully holding onto Jake, as baby brother wants to head down the stairs - now!

I'm on the left, grinning at Dad, who is taking the photo.







On Victoria Drive again, here's a photo of four cousins:  big sister on top left, cousin Derek on top right, I'm on the right (surprise) holding out a partly eaten apple to whoever is taking the photo, and cousin Wendy is on bottom left watching to see where that apple is going!

Either Mom or my Aunt Barbara took this photo. And I see all the girls have (new?) stuffed dollies to cuddle. It looks as if this might have been taken around late 1945.  Could it have been around Christmas time?



On the right is a photo taken out in Deep Cove, in North Vancouver, BC, roughly early spring 1947. Taken at my grandparents' retirement home, "KilKare" on the steps, I can't think what was the reason for us being there. Perhaps "just visiting." This is another porch which features in many  family photos - all the many Gillespie and Bunn cousins have photos of themselves, family members and other relatives on these steps!

Grandpa Jack Gillespie is sitting on the right behind Mom who is holding baby brother Jake - who was born only 2 days after Grandpa Jack's birthday. I didn't realize this until I started my genealogy work on our Gillespie family. My older sister is sitting between Grandma and Mom, and I'm on Grandma's lap - watching baby brother yet again!

On the left, here's big sister down the stairs, and heading for the car to go to the church for her wedding to Val, her high-school sweetheart.  May 17, 1963.  I'm on the right, Mom and Dad are just behind the group of us.

Wonderful sunshine, and a beautiful day. Very exciting! I'm sorry the photo isn't sharper, it's a little fuzzy, and would need some editing work to bring out the pretty bouquets and details.

The small tag at the bottom was done by Mom, who made all three of us a personal photo album one year for Christmas. And she typed small labels for every photograph in our three albums.

On the left is our home on Matapan Crescent.  Taken in May 1965, this is 3 years after big sister married Val, the good looking guy in the middle!  Mom and Dad are behind us, and baby brother is on the right behind big sister.

Looking at the date, I suspect this was taken at the 'mutual' birthday dinner Val and I often had.  Our birthdays were only 2 days apart, so we would have dinner and cake etc. on whichever days were convenient.


And the birthday cakes - we loved to cut them up in non-traditional ways. Circles, weird shapes, diamonds, whatever we could manage to cut. No tidy conventional squares for us!! Nice memories.

Just for that, here's a photo to give you the idea of how much fun we had cutting!

I'm on the left, Val on the right. Dad is watching us and wondering what on earth we're going to do now, and my mom's mother, whom we called GrandPete, is watching Mom taking the photo.

Mom didn't date this photo but I think it must be around 1970.

On the right in this July 1968 photo of Four Generations, we're on the Matapan steps again. Notice the new screen door with a big "G" on it?  G for Gillespie. That screen door is still on the house - my brother took a photo of it a few years ago when he was in the area.

Mom is on the left, with GrandPete in the middle, holding my eldest daughter, I'm on the right, just out of hospital, on our way home. Baby's father is taking the photo, I think, although it could have been my Dad. I don't remember who was behind the camera, now. GrandPete is 88 years old in this photo by the way. She died in late 1973.

Front steps. The front porch. They saw many milestones, many children. We gathered there for photos of birthdays, visitors, holidays, celebrations of all sorts.

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52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 10: "Stormy Weather" -

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was Close to Home, and this week it is "Stormy Weather."  

Living on the "wet coast" (BC), we haven't had the stormy weather the eastern states and Canada have had to deal with this winter.  I haven't seen anything in my ancestors' lives to indicate a literal issue of stormy weather, so I'm using a figurative example of stormy weather. 

My father's parents were William John GILLESPIE, known as Jack all his life, and Harriette BUNN (photo on right).  Grandpa was born in Augher, Co.Tyrone, Northern Ireland in 23 Aug 1876; Grandma was born in Netherton, Staffordshire, England in 31 Oct 1879.  Both ended up in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England where their fathers and other relatives were able to find work in the booming economy in Barrow.  Ship-building, steel-manufacturing, and related industries drew workers from far away.

On the 1881 Census in Barrow, my 5 year old Grandpa Jack, his 3 year old little brother Jim, his parents George & Catherine, his 2 uncles Andrew & Robert and his aunt Margaret , and his grandparents James & Elizabeth, all lived in a cottage termed "#262 Brick Cottages".  There were about 300 of these built for the workers, and every family member of working age, worked. 

The economy went quite well until into the early 1900s; Grandpa grew up and on the 23rd of May 1899, he married Harriet Bunn, whose parents - following a step-brother/uncle -  had moved up to Barrow shortly after the 1881 Census. The photo you see above is a tintype photo taken in Barrow, and is described in the family as their  "engagement photo".  

Around 1905, Grandpa Jack moved his family across Hadrian's Wall and into Scotland, to Cambusnethan (near Wishaw and Newmains), where he worked in the Newmains foundry.  Their 4th child, Beatrice, died of tuberculosis in 1907, aged 3 years. That same year, my father was born, and 3 years later to the day, the youngest Gillespie child, Elizabeth "Lil" was born.   Also in 1907, Grandpa's little brother, Jim (nicknamed "Rusty") decided to go to Canada, and left (with a Bible from Barrow), sailing from Glasgow on 16 Mar 1907, for the port of Halifax, Canada.  Jim eventually settled in Ontario, marrying and raising a family of four children there.

Several years later, England experienced a minor economic depression, and moving to Canada was very attractive for many English (and other Great Britain countries).  Grandpa decided to come to Canada, and left the port of Liverpool on the Empress of Britain on June 2, 1911 with his father-in-law George Bunn Sr., following not only his brother Jim Gillespie, but also his brother-in-law, George Bunn, who was in Vancouver by 1910.  Unfortunately, his father-in-law became sick and returned to Barrow shortly afterwards.  Grandpa travelled on to Vancouver, finding work as a longshoreman.  Although the family story is that his first job in Vancouver was being tagged on the main street (Granville?) for jury duty and being paid for it - his first income!  

All very well, you're thinking... but where's the 'stormy weather'?  Grandpa left Barrow  on June 1911, leaving his wife Harriette, and children aged 12-2 yrs old: Elsie, George, Winnie, John, and Lil. They were separated for several years. Years. Not months or weeks, but years. Tough times, I suspect. 

And finally, after over three years, Grandpa borrowed money from the Salvation Army and was able to get his family out of England on October 22, 1914.  That's right - 1914. Several months after the start of World War 1.  Stormy weather indeed.  The ship they travelled on  across the ocean was the Virginian, which was immediately refitted for war and sent to the Mediterranean after it returned to Great Britain.  

If Grandpa had not been able to pay the fees to bring his wife and 5 children over at that time, they might not have made it across until after the war - another 4 years!   
Between the start of WWI and the 3 years since leaving Barrow, the couple went through difficult times, apart. The formal photo here is of the family in 1917, several years after finally settling in back together, in Vancouver BC.  

I don't recall anyone in the family talking of this over-3-year's separation period.  But I think it must have been somewhat difficult to be apart this long and then back together again.  Over the next number of years, several others of Harriette Bunn's family emigrated to Canada, coming to Vancouver.  

Stormy weather - Marriage can be stormy weather at times, and this period of time must have been challenging for my grandparents, as well as their children.  

If you have questions or information, do contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  I appreciate any corrections as well.  

NOTE: My Blogger account is acting up and not allowing me to reply to comments just now. Assume that I am absolutely thrilled you took the time to come by, read the notes, and comment. You make my day!