Barstow Bastow

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 their
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 over 20 years before this happened so accent or mispronunciation cannot be to blame.

Barstow Employment during the Industrial revolution

From about 1807 and throughout the whole of the 19th Century, the family were occupied in the production of felt hats. The most prosperous time for
the business was when the company 'merged' through marriage to the Arundale's of Droylsden around the 1830's when Brothers
Charles Luke and George Adshead married Daughters of Matthew and Betty Arundale. Decendants of which are double cousins.
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 feud occured, which
caused a split in the hatting business. The foreman of the firm at that time John Barsrtow moved his family to Ormskirk.

Church and religion

While the Bastow's were living in Middleton, the family followed the standard church of England path as shown by parish registers.
Once they turned up in Worldsend, Droylsden and got in with the Arundale's, the religion becomes strictly Wesleyan Methodists. The
children are brought up as Methodists despite Charles Luke and George Adshead marrying the Arundales at Manchester
Cathedral. The novelty does wear off for Charles Luke's side of the Barstow family as the Victoria era continues.

Barstow Family connections of note

The furthest discovered relatives to date is a Mosley family daughter. The Mosley's were 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
 

• No slave legacy.