Advent Calendar: Robert James Park

Robert James Park

Born 1852, died 1930, aged 78
Lived in: Ireland (uncertain of location or locations); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Ireland (again, Belfast most likely); Vancouver, Canada
Married: Elizabeth Curran
Children:
(two unnamed children who died in early childhood)
Robert Park
Elizabeth Park
Mary Dunlop Park
Rhoda Park
Margaret Park
George Park
Florence Park

Robert was born in a turbulent time in Irish history. Because of this, we know almost nothing about his life before he came to the United States. We do know he was born to a man named John Park and his wife, whose surname was Dunlop. Robert and his wife married before coming to the states, I believe, possibly sometime around 1883. The couple moved to the US because of the Irish Potato Famine, and settled in Philadelphia, where all their children were born. Of their nine children, seven survived childhood, and six to adulthood, though only two went on to have families of their own. When Teddy Roosevelt came to power, the Republicans did everything in their power to make life difficult, and so the family chose to return to Ireland. Eventually, one of their daughters made her way to Vancouver BC, and sent back such glowing reports of the city and country that the rest of the family soon followed, most of them settling in and around the Vancouver BC area, where Robert died in 1930.