The Frank ‘Eden’ Bairstow Family, 1923.
Back: William ‘Bill’, Elsie (m Sangster/Cronin), Stanley Raymond ’Pat’. Middle: Ernest Edgar ’Ernie’, Lily (n Bahr) with Joan (m Crossman) on her lap, Eden. Front: Doris (m Clark), Harold ‘Dick’ and Hazel (m Grant).
Jacob Bairstow was born in Yorkshire, England in 1805. He married Sarah Garth and in 1858 they left England for South Australia. They arrived with four children; Joseph, Robert, Hannah and Abraham, with other children having died on the ship on the way out.
Joseph had thirteen children - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Robert, Daniel, Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Selina, Eva, Mowther and Lydia. Abraham Bairstow, eldest son of Joseph Bairstow, of near Nairne married Charlotte Mills in 1874 and went to Redhill, on the Broughton, and engaged in farming. In 1884 they removed to Chapmanton, near Hawker, and later went to live at Hawker. Abraham and Charlotte had five daughters and six sons including Frank and Edward. In 1905 Frank ‘Eden’ and his brother Edward ‘Ted’ Bairstow came from South Australia seeking new agricultural land. They had been attracted to the area by other ex-South Australian farmers such as the Bahr family. Ted and Eden over the first few years of their occupancy expanded their land ownership on Eden Valley farm to 2062 acres. The name of the farm was a connection to their South Australian past as Eden Valley was named after a rural district in the Barossa region. Situated near to Eden Valley farm, was the Bahr family who had built up the successful farm Hazeleigh. The Bahr’s and Bairstow’s became united when Eden and Ted married sisters, Lillian ‘Lily’ and Ida ‘Olive’ Bahr. Ted and Eden, were renowned characters of the district legendary for their laughter, which was distinctively loud. They were also well known for their musical ability. Despite not being able to read music Eden was accomplished at playing the violin, accordion and a tin whistle. Ted was legendary in the district for his love and enthusiasm for trotting. He maintained the local trotting track for many years as well as training horses for race meetings. KV
