The Irish Line: Farmers, Industrialists, Doctors, Soldiers, Missionaries, Administrators and Family Men.

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Description

It is a story about George Grimshaw and his forebears, the latter originating near Blackburn in England’s County of Lancashire. George Grimshaw who died in 2008 in his 98th year lived through a time that the world changed completely – this story reflects a few of these changes. The original known Grimshaw was Walter de Grimshaw, a farmer and landowner who lived in the 13th Century. He was followed by descendants who eventually became a part of Britain’s industrial revolution – especially in the spinning of cotton and the manufacture of cloth. In 1770’s Nicholas Grimshaw immigrated to Ireland, where he set up the first “modern” cotton spinning business near Belfast at the small village of Whitehouse. Nicholas was the progenitor of the IRISH LINE and was a “Father of Ulster”. His descendants became well know doctors, administrators, and businessmen. George’s Grandfather, Thomas Wrigley Grimshaw, was Registrar of Ireland, a well known doctor, with interest in public health, particularly in the keep watch over of tuberculosis and typhoid. His large family, most of whom were educated at Trinity College, Dublin, were to change into judges, soldiers and planters. George’s father, Cecil was in the Dublin Fusiliers and fought in the Boer War (where he was captured and in Prisoner of War camp with Winston Churchill – this book recounts these events verbatim from his diary) and later in Gallipoli where he fought with great valour and who was killed at “V” beach on the Gallipoli peninsular in 1915. George, along side two brothers, was brought up by his widowed mother, Violet. His young life was full of adventure, and following schooling at Wellington College, where he excelled in work and sports, he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he passed out top. He joined the Royal Artillery and was posted to India where he played polo, hunted wild pig with a spear on horseback, and went on hunts from the back of elephants. At the beginning of the Second World War he was posted to France, then later to East Africa for the Abyssinia military campaign, and after that India. With the exception of being a Gunner he was a specialist in the combat against gas warfare. He married twice into the Gilliat family of Huguenot origin. His wife Nancy’s account of her growing up as a privileged young girl is included in her own wonderful words. After the War he retired from the Army and joined the Church Missionary Society, and was sent to East Africa to administer the mission. He was there at a time when Independence was in the making – an interesting time. After his retirement he lived in Devon for more than 30 years where he was able to enjoy his love for nature and change into once more a family man. This book has been put together for George’s grandchildren and great grandchildren so that they may not omit their ancestry. It may too be of interest to others, who may wish to get a flavor of how people lived and worked in years gone by – this type of contrast to today’s way of living.

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