At this same meeting I met a delightful gentleman who introduced himself as Bert Topliffe. I introduced myself and upon hearing my name asked if I was a relative of John William Parker. What a wonderful surprise when I told him I was John William Parker’s great granddaughter and discovered Bert knew a lot of the old history of the family. I gather Bert was born around 1915. His family was one of the Coombs Colonists, having one of the 20 acre parcels down the road from our family.  Here is what he told me:

Bert said he knew John William Parker well, that he was an avid fly fisherman and hunter and that he raised pheasants on a huge estate back in England. He said he was a kind and hard working man. Bert worked with him on occasion in later years logging sometimes.

He remembers being at John’s house and seeing a gun hanging over the door. John told him the gun belonged to Will (Charles William Parker who had died in the war in 1916). John said he hung the gun over the door when Will died and it had stayed there ever since. He said he would not part with the gun but Bert could use it once in a while if he wanted. Bert borrowed the gun and thought he would clean it up as it was a mess. He said he could not get it clean and the inside of the barrel was a mess, it probably could never shoot anything but he appreciated that John would let him use it.