Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Henry Bargh was born on 14 February 1880 at Burton in Lonsdale, Yorkshire, England, and baptised on 10 April 1880 at Burton in Lonsdale. He was the fifth son of Isaac Bargh and the elder son of Isaac’s second wife, Elizabeth née Barker. Isaac’ first wife, Jane Gorrill, had died in 1878, leaving his with six young children. The following year Isaac married Elizabeth Barker by whom he had two sons and one daughter. Young John was at home with his family at Burton in Lonsdale in 1881. By 1891 only the three children of the second marriage – all scholars - were at home with their parents, now at Hooton, Cheshire. By 1901, John Bargh had disappeared. John H. Bargh was a labourer and 22 years old when he left Liverpool, England on 20 March 1902 per the “Tunisia” and arrived at Halifax, Canada a few days later. John was back in England in November 1907, a farmer and 27 years old, when he set sail from Liverpool per the “Rippingham Grange” for Wellington, New Zealand. He appeared to have travelled alone, and was, in fact, the only member of his immediate family to leave the UK. On 21 July 1910 at the Christchurch Registry Office, New Zealand, John Henry Bargh married Maria Annie Robinson, who also hailed from England. John and Annie were to have no children. In 1911 John and Annie were residing at Mount Peel where he was a rouseabout. They were working at the Waimate Settlement in 1914. John was listed on the Second Reserve Rolls in 1917 – a farm labourer at Methven, married with no children. At the beginning of December 1917, John Henry Bargh, farm labourer, care of People’s Palace, Christchurch, was called up from the Second Division.

John Henry Bargh enlisted on 31 January 1918 at Timaru, noting that he had been in New Zealand for ten years. He had been medically examined for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Christchurch in August 1916 and passed Fit. A labourer for Mr Geaney at Makikihi, married and of Church of England affiliation, he named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs A. M. Bargh, Mount Peel, Rangitata. Standing at 5 feet 6 inches and weighing 126 pounds, he had a chest measurement of 32-36½ inches, a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair brown. His sight, hearing and colour vision were all good, his limbs and chest well formed, and his heart and lungs normal. Free from illnesses, diseases, defects and fits, vaccinated, and in good bodily and mental health, he was passed Class A.

On 20 May 1918, the Temuka and Geraldine men (of the 42nd Reinforcements) who were leaving for camp that day, and their relatives, were entertained by the ladies of the Temuka Patriotic Entertainment Committee. A “bountiful and appetising repast” was provided, with musical entertainment during the meal. The men leaving that day “were among the very best men left in New Zealand.” Many of them were married, and they were reassured that their dependents would be looked after. They were asked to “play the man”, and to be straight and honest. In return, they would be well treated and honoured. They were going to fight for the good old flag and for the freedom of the world. They were wished the best of luck and a safe return. “For they are jolly good fellows” and a verse of the National Anthem were sung before the recruits marched to the railway station, where a large crowd had gathered to see them off – J. H. Bargh, of Rangitata, and fourteen others.

Playing her patriotic part, in early June 1918, Mrs J. H. Bargh (Geraldine District – Peel Forest List) made a donation to the Sailors’ Day Fund. In October she also made a donation to the Red Cross Fund. With his initial trainign over, Private J. H. Bargh embarked with the 42nd Reinforcements, leaving from Wellington for London, England, on 1 August 1918 per the “Tofua”. Disembarking on 4 October 1918, he marched in to Brocton camp. On 21 April 1919, he was admitted to the Belmont Road Hospital, Liverpool, with bronchitis. A few weeks later he marched into B Group at Codford. Bargh marched into the Canterbury Provincial Depot at Sling (awaiting a ship home) on 11 June 1919. One of 968 men in Returning Draft No. 273, J. H. Bargh, of Mount Peel, returned to New Zealand by the “Somerset” which left on 2 July 1919 and was due at Lyttelton on or about 12 August 1919. The Somerset had left Liverpool on 2 July. The men were entertained by the Navy, Y.M.C.A., and the American people in general, during a brief stop-over at Norfolk, Virginia. Although it was at Norfolk Harbour that the troops witnessed a fatal aeroplane collision, very close to their ship. The 2nd Otago Infantry Band was on board the Somerset and provided entertainment during the trip. The Somerset also brought a big English mail. 6000 bags, for the dominion. Bargh was discharged on 17 September 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement. He was only awarded the British War Medal as all his overseas service having been in England.

In the ballot for the Coldstream soldiers’ settlement, held on 18 September 1919, J. H. Bargh (Mount Peel) was successful in drawing a section. A telling letter to the editor of the Ashburton Guardian from J. Bargh, Coldstream, was published on 28 November 1919 – “Sir, - In your paper quite recently I read that at a clearing sale held in this district, when it was known that returned soldier settlers were wanting to bid, the others kept off and gave them a chance. How different it was at a clearing sale at Hinds about a week ago! Not only did they run things up to their value, but sometimes over it. I bought a hundredweight of new barbed wire, and when I went about an hour afterwards to take it to my bare paddock, found it gone. If this should meet the eye of the mean, miserable wretch who stole it, I have a wire-strainer, and if he likes to come along I’ll give him a hand to strain it.” When Garton’s photographic competition was held throughout the Dominion in 1925 for mangolds, swedes and turnips, Mr J. H. Bargh, Coldstream, Hinds, Canterbury, won a (10 shillings) for mangolds (Garton’s was a seed company). In October 1929, Mr J. H. Bargh, of Coldstream, gave a filly for sale to augment the funds raised for the Hinds parish. In February 1931 he gave £1 to the Ashburton Guardian’s fund for the earthquake sufferers. John Bargh’s wife took ill and as of July 1931 she was an inmate of the Ashburton Public Hospital. Maria Ann Bargh, dearly beloved wife of John Henry Bargh, died on 20 December 1931 at Coldstream. Her funeral was held at Coldstream and she was buried in the little cemetery there. The death of Mrs Bargh who was a well-known resident of Coldstream and previously of Mount Peel, signalled a great loss to her husband whose helpmate and companion she had been for 21 years; and also to the community where she had been an active and enthusiastic member of the Plunket Society and the Library Committee and a keen church worker and supporter of the school. "The best are only on loan” were John Bargh’s words in December 1932; “Beautiful memories of a great woman” in 1933; and “To memory ever dear” in 1934. Mr J. H. Bargh (Lowcliffe) gained a successful price for his ewes at the Ashburton Saleyards in February 1935, while in March 1937 he topped the ewe section and realised 29s 6d for a single sheep in the wether section. His letter published in the Press of 27 October1937 was a great promotion for a local business – “Coldstream. 19/12/36. Dear Sirs—l am very well pleased with the Hornet Cultivator. It is far away the best farm implement I have ever seen or worked, and am sure it would be hard to find a better one. The design and thorough workmanship do the makers great credit, for in producing such a splendid Cultivator they surely delivered the goods. J. H. Bargh. P. and D. DUNCAN, LTD., Christchurch and Ashburton.”

On 1 May 1939, a dispersal sale was conducted on account of J. H. Bargh, of Coldstream, who was giving up farming. The prices realised - for plant (extensive range of implements), one Jersey cow and nine horses - were very satisfactory. After selling up, John Bargh moved into Tinwald. He does not appear on the 1950s electoral rolls, perhaps for two reasons – a trip home and paralysis. Departing from Wellington, New Zealand, per the “Rangitoto”, John H. Bargh (born 14 February 1880) arrived at Southampton, England on 2 September 1955. He was a widower, a farm worker, had citizenship for England, and his last permanent residence had been in New Zealand. The UK address to which he was going was C/o Mrs Blundell, Moor Hey Rd, Maghull, Liverpool, Lancashire. John’s youngest sister, Anne Harriett Bargh, who had married Richard Blundell, was his only surviving sibling by the mid-1950s.

John Henry Bargh died at Christchurch (formerly of Coldstream, near Ashburton) on 1 January 1960, aged 79 years. He was privately interred with his late wife at Coldstream Private Cemetery. In his Will, dated 14 April 1959, he declared that “I desire that my body be buried beside that of my late wife in the Coldstream Cemetery at Hinds.” He appointed Herbert Ernest Cook, a retired farmer of Christchurch, as executor and trustee and bequeathed one half of his estate to Herbert’s wife and daughter and the other half to the wife of Samuel Bryan of Hornby. In signing, John Bargh had to make a mark as he could not use his hands to write owing to paralysis. Isaac Gorril Bargh, a nephew of John, served with the Army Service Corps of the UK Forces, enlisting in November 1914 at the age of nineteen.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 October 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5520 0011168) [24 May 2015]; Birth index, Yorkshire, England (Free BDM) [2014]; Yorkshire, England Baptism record (per ancestry.com.au) [16 July 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [XXX]; 1881, 1891 England Census returns (ancestry.com.au) [18 March 2015]; Passenger Lists (ancestry.com.au) [18 March 2015]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [18 March 2015; 16 July 2024]; Press, 4 December 1917, 1 May 1928, 4 July 1931, 6 February 1932, 14 May 1932, 20 December 1932, 20 December 1933, 20 December 1934, 2 January 1960, Timaru Herald, 18 May 1918, 6 June 1918, 8 August 1919, 19 September 1919, 26, 29 & 31 August 1925, Temuka Leader, 21 May 1918, 19 October 1918, 20 September 1919, Otago Daily Times, 6 August 1919, Ashburton Guardian, 6 August 1919, 19 September 1919, 28 November 1919, 22 October 1929, 13 February 1931, 10 September 1931, 21 & 30 December 1931, 6 February 1932, 14 May 1932, 18 June 1932, 26 February 1935, Star, 22 December 1931 (Papers Past) [18 March 2015; 17 December 2017; 22 August 2020; 08 August 2021; 16 March 2022; 31 May 2022; 08 August 2022; 28 September 2022; 16 & 17 July 2024]; Coalgate (Coldstream Estate) Cemetery headstone transcription (South Canterbury Branch NZSG cemetery records microfiche) [18 March 2015]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [18 March 2015; 16 July 2024]; Probate record (Archives NZ/Family Search) [05 June 2015]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Currently Assigned to

TS