The Yarrow family
My Yarrow connection is through my Great Grandmother - Maude Yarrow who was born in a small village called Little Thetford, Cambridgeshire in 1899. She is still alive and well and has helped me significantly, not only with the names and dates of relatives but also stories as well - she has such a vivid memory of her younger days and is a very good and funny storyteller. She is the 3rd child of fifteen children - all but two of whom survived into adulthood and most of them are still alive today. Her younger sisters, Lois and Winifred Yarrow have also helped me considerably with photographs and old letters from generations long since gone.
The furthest that I have managed to research back to is to a group of brothers and sisters living in Little Thetford at the end of the 1700's. I am always looking out for further information about this old but unusual surname.
<left: My Gt Gt Grandparents, Adelaide (neé Bishop) and James Yarrow standing outside their home at 'The Lodge' in Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, during the 2nd World War.
Records of Little Thetford show the Yarrow family as key members of the community: Farmers, Labourers, Land Owners, Publicans, Station Masters, Butchers, Grocers, Churchwardens, Organists, Station Porters, Shop keepers, Postmasters, Signalmen, Dairymen, Charity Trust Holders, Beer Sellers, Choir Quartet, School Teachers - there doesn't seem to be many occupations left that the Yarrow family didn't have a foot in!
1930 saw a terrible end of year for my Gt Gt Gt Grandmother, Mary Yarrow (née Gothard). Having only just buried her husband, James, on 30th October 1930 she then had to face the terrible accident that occured on November 5th (Guy Fawkes Night) when a stray firework landed on the roof of the family home (as it had been for many generations) in the very centre of Little Thetford. The roof being a thatched one soon caught fire and the whole house was completely destroyed. Fortunately no-one was hurt during the fire but as you could imagine it must have been terrible for the family having two great losses in a week. Most of the family's belongings were destroyed but a few photographs have managed to survive the years and I am currently building up a large collection of family pictures from various scattered sources.
It is believed that my branch of Yarrows moved to Cambridgeshire in order to help drain the fenland with Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden. It is thought by a relative that the Yarrows came from somewhere such as the Newcastle area and moved down to the Midlands to help drain a marsh before settling in the Cambridgeshire Fenland. Part of my Yarrow family (elder brother to James Yarrow, who is pictured above) moved to Dover, Kent but returned to marry Amy Ann Howard at Little Thetford Parish Church and then together they returned to Dover and had a large family. Some Yarrow descendents still live in Dover today.
The Yarrow Landlords...
The Three Horseshoes (left),in the centre of Little Thetford, changed hands in my family on more than one occasion... landlords included Owen Yarrow and in 1933 Frederick Yarrow... between the two of these Yarrows there was a Henry J. Dewsbury who is noted in 1904 as the landlord... all three of these people appear in my family trees... I don't know when the pub closed but the property is now residential... but still holds its name above the door as "The Three Horseshoes".
The other public house that my family were landlords of for a number of years was 'The Wheat Sheaf'... unfortunately I am unaware of the location of this long since gone pub in Little Thetford but would like to see it if the place is still standing... My Gt Gt Gt Grandfather was landlord there and his second wife Elizabeth continued the ownership until her death.
Other Yarrows...
I do have some information about Yarrows that I have not yet been connected to my own branch. They lived in Little Downham for some time as well as Ely. If anyone has any connection to these Yarrows I can supply some more information about their ancestry as I am in contact with one of the Little Downham descendents. I am also distantly related to another as yet unconnected branch - the Haddenham Yarrows. Unfortunately I do not know much about them but I am hoping to find out a little more. There were also Yarrows living in the village of Stretham, Cambridgeshire but I am also unable to link them up as yet.
Yarrow of Anfield
<: William and Emma Yarrow...
William Yarrow was born in Little Thetford on 3rd May 1849 and he was was the son of John Yarrow (1806-1850's) and his second wife Elizabeth Jeffery (1807-1870's).
Both William and Emma were originally from Cambridgeshire - William from Little Thetford and Emma from Soham. They lived in Anfield for many many years. They had 3 daughters and a son. The daughters looked after the couple in their later years.
William was a fantastic letter writer and many of his letters still survive today with their envelopes as well. This collection of letters is held by Lois Yarrow but I have been fortunate to take copies of them.
One letter in particular is a very moving account of the night that Emma died after a terrible illness. You can feel the heartache of William coming through. Later letters detail William's own illness and how much he became dependent on his daughters. William was a scrapbook maker too... some of his scrap books also survive and they contain many newspaper articles and photographs of the time.
William was a keen cello player and also sang in many choirs, which included 4 Cathedrals. Musical skills seem to have been common in the Yarrow family...and have been passed on through the generations. William and his brothers Owen (bass), James (tenor) and Albert (treble) are noted many times in the Little Thetford parish records, with William performing as Alto. Their most popular song during their younger Little Thetford years was the hymn "Arise, Shine".
Little Thetford church...the epi-centre of my Yarrow family.
Gt Grandparents: Maude Yarrow (1899-present day) & Ernest Herbert Barber (1902-1985)
Gt Gt Grandparents: James Yarrow (1875-1946) & Adelaide Bishop (1877-1965)
Gt Gt Gt Grandparents: James Yarrow (1846-1930) & Mary Gothard (1847-1931)
Gt Gt Gt Gt Grandparents: John Yarrow (1806-1858) & Elizabeth Jeffery (1808-1870's)
Gtx5 Grandparents: William Yarrow (1778-1848) & Elizabeth Wright (1781-1839)
Gtx6 Grandparents: John Yarrow & Mary Rayner
"The Yarrow name is apparently a very old name. Some believe it to be of Mediaeval English and Scottish origin - originating from the place of the same name in Scotland and the river in Lanarkshire. The derivation of the Yarrow name, in Selkirk, Scotland is from the Gaelic "garhh" and is recorded circa 1120 as "gierua". However the river Yarrow is a derivation either from the Welsh "garw", meaning rough, or the Welsh "ariant" meaning silver."
Adapted from: Name Origin Research, York, England. (01423 323622).
BIG thanks to my Great Grandmother, her sisters Lois, Winifred and Agnes and their neice Joan for all their help in researching this family. I know that you won't see this but it is worth saying!
I last updated this site on: 28-Mar-1999
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