Thomas Henry PARKE (1847-1932)

Thomas Henry Parke was born in Castlegal, Co. Sligo, Ireland, 1847 (The height of the great

Potato Famine). He was the seventh of nine children born to Philip and Mary (Simpson)

Parke. Thom's mother passed away in 1852 leaving young children. Tom's childhood

memories included being raised by an older sister and spending time with his Grandparents

who both lived to be in their 100's.

 

According to a family story, Thomas was an accountant back in Ireland. He had just landed a

job in a bank in Dublin when his older brother Philip wrote and invited him to come to

Canada. Philip's account of life on a ranch in the interior of B.C. must of sounded pretty good

to the young man from Sligo. He turned down the job in Dublin and headed for Canada, arriving 1885 .

Thom first spent tme with relatives back east, then with the completion of the railway, he

continued his journey and arrived in Ashcroft in 1886.

Thomas lived with his brother Philip and worked for him for a few years before homesteadng

land outside of Clinton, known as the Bishop place. Tom met a young widow with six

children by the name of Annie Stephenson, (Clifford died as an infant, then Nellie at age 11)

Tom and Annie married and raised four more children.

Thomas Parke was also Postmaster of Cache Creek. In 1920, a flash flood in July took away

all their possessons, ncluding a valuable organ. The family only got out with the clothes on

their back. The only item which was recovered was a picture of Cuyler (Hugh) Parke, which

is in the Ashcroft Museum. Annie passed away December 1920, six months after the flood

which had destroyed their home..

As Thomas grew older, he lived with his children. While living with his son Phil in Ashcroft,

he broke his leg. Thomas died in the Kamloops Hospital in 1932 at the age of 85. He was

orginally buried on a hill in Cache Creek. Later Thomas's grave was moved to Ashcroft and

now rests beside his son Stanley.