Origins of the Name Bairstow It is unquestionable that
the origins of surnames Barstow and Bastow come from Bairstow.
Depending on who's contemporary story you believe will determine where
the family came from an what the name means. The two or three meanings
of the name de Bairstowe I have come across are 'barley store' (Bar Stow
- in other words a barn), Windy Hill or the barren (bair) place (stow)
in ye oldye English. This is a place Southowram (Somewhere in Halifax,
Yorkshire). The final one is 'the place where berries are grown', stow being
old English for grow.
First recordings of the family are around 1200 and again, conjecture
determines if they were native Anglo saxons or
Norman French.
Background to the South Lancs Ba(r)stows
Around the mid-1700's in Middleton and
Bury, England, a few Bastow families start to appear in church records.
As yet, the
present day Barstow's have not been connected
to the current Bastow decendants.
The Barstows that are presently living
in the Manchester area descended from George Bastow's Son Abraham Mosley
Ba(r)stow.
Descendants of two distinct branches can
be found living all round the English speaking world. These two branches
are
George Adshead Ba(r)stow and Charles Luke
Ba(r)stow (my own).
Why the R was introduced into the name
is still a mystery. The practice began around 1848 when all registration
records
for the family started to gain the R.
I don't think it was due illiteracy or pronunciation. The family members
all sign there
names in church records. They had moved
from Middleton (family home for 50 years) to what is now Tameside and had
been living there for at least 10 years
before this happened so accent or mispronunciation cannot be to blame.
Barstow Employment during the Industrial revolution
During the whole of the 19th Century, the
family where occupied in the production of felt hats. The most prosperous
time for
the business was when the company 'merged'
through marriage to the Arrundale's of Droylsden around the 1830's when
Brothers
Charles Luke and George Adshead married
Daughters of Matthew and Betty Arrundale.
Examination of the census records around
this period showed that Hat making was popular for male and female employment,
especially the Guide Lane region of Hooley
Hill, Audenshaw.
However, sometime before 1890, the inveitable
family fude occured, which
caused a split in the hatting business.
The foreman of the firm at that time John Barsrtow moved his family to Ormskirk.
Barstow Family connections of note
The furthest discovered relatives to date
is a Mosley family daughter. The Mosley's where lords of the Manor in
Manchester from 1596. It is currently unknown whether
this Mosley is a descendant of the lord or a surf !
Barstow Genealogy Trivia
How would you sum up Barstow family
History?
Cyclical.
© SS/H.Last updated January 2007.