Today's post is a "memories" style of article by long-time resident Greta Vesterback Nelson. Her family once owned the property & had a house on the land where our museum now stands. Her husband's family owned the property where Freshco is now located. Stories about their families have been previously posted on this page.
Part of the article that was of particular interest to me was the mention of Barnsley's coffee shop. Upon doing a bit of research (a.k.a. rabbit hole), I learned that Walter & Elizabeth Barnsley bought the business from Mrs. J. Watson in the summer of 1932.
I found a fair bit of information about the Barnsley family in old issues of the Langley Advance. Mr. Barnsley was a barber by trade, so he also ran a barbershop in conjunction with what was listed as a confectionary. That said, prior to moving to Aldergrove, Mr. Barnsley ran a pool room in Port Moody, where he was arrested, jailed & fined $300.00 for serving liquor to minors in May 1932.
Mrs. Barnsley (Elizabeth) was a member of the Aldergrove Women's Association and hosted meetings at the Barnsley home, while Walter was a founding member of the Aldergrove Volunteer Fire Department & sat on its executive committee as a director. Both were regular participants in the many fundraising whist drives that were held in Aldergrove during WW2.
Elizabeth was Walter's second wife; they were married in Port Moody in 1924. I haven't yet learned what happened to his first wife. Walter and Elizabeth had a son, Walter Henry (Harry), who followed his father into the barbering trade. Walter later married his third wife, Clara around 1950.
The Barnsley's sold the business to Mr. & Mrs. B. McIntyre in May 1943, after Mr. Barnsley had started barbering in the Dawson Creek-Pouce Coupe area. I couldn't find them listed in the directories for that area, but the family returned to Vancouver in 1945-6, where Mr. Barnsley had purchased a barbershop. Elizabeth Barnsley passed away in Vancouver in 1948, suffering from malignant hypertension and cerebral hemorrhage, which was probably caused by the malignant hypertension. Walter passed away at Vancouver in 1963.
#storiesmatter #localhistory #ourcommunity
