Pask Family History Group now on Facebook

We have created a Pask Family History Group on Facebook.

This group is for anyone with an interest in the surname PASK and variants including PASKE, PASQUE, and PARSK. Share your family stories and pictures and see if we can all help each other out.

Look forward to you joining us.

Lasting Tribute

As a follow-on from yesterday's blog titled Australia's Largest Online Memorial, the Guild of One-Name Studies also mentioned last week a similar site in the UK - Lasting Tribute.

There are 35 Pask, Paske, and Pasque entries, although several are duplicated. In the past we have included some from Lasting Tribute, however the website is growing in popularity and now includes a lot more. These include:

• PASK, Jeffrey from Swansea
• PASK, Lavina from Nottingham
• PASK, Ada May from Nottingham
• PASK, Ida May from Nottingham
• PASK, Marjorie from Grimsby
• PASK, Bernard from Bath
• PASK, Phyllis Daisy from Hull
• PASK, Barbara Mary from Bristol
• PASK, John from Grimsby
• PASK, Louise from Grimsby
• PASK,  Clare Louise from Grimsby
• PASK ? from Derby
• PASK, Michael Ivan from Leicestershire
• PASKE, Gwendoline Hilda from Bristol
• PASKE, Reginald George Bristol
• PASKE Dennis Albert Bristol
• PASKE, Brunhilde (Helga) Maria Christina Bristol
• PASQUE-BISHOPRICK, Hilary from Hull

Over the course of time, these tributes will be included in the database, and updated on the website.

PASK Hunting Horn

We received an e-mail from Patrick Button, who lives in Durban, South Africa.

He wrote:

I have in my possession a hunting horn from a great uncle in England, who was a huntsman. The horn is stamped Pask Maker London and I have now been able to identify and date it.

... in case you are aghast at its battered condition please be reminded that it appears to have been a real working tool for many years (!)


Patrick also provided a picture of his great-grandfather Huntsman Thomas Leonard Imms (1839 -1928) who used the Pask Maker London hunting horn at Clandon Park and Merrow, Surrey.

Thomas Leonard Imms was also Huntsman with the Norfolk Stag Hounds as well as the Brighton and Knaphill Harriers. He is said to have hunted with the then Prince of Wales, Edward, who frequented Clandon Park and Merrow.

Patrick provided more information on the possible dates:

I have listed three names & dates of successive IMMS huntsman to the Earls of Onslow, who lived at Clandon Park near Guildford, Surrey.

James Imms 1773 or 1774 - 1846
Thomas Leonard Imms 1811-1879
Thomas Leonard Imms 1839-1928**

The latter was my great grandfather** and it was from him that the Pask Maker hunting horn is supposed to have come. Assuming that the dates of the Pask company span from 1840-1871, it seems that this horn may have been acquired and used by Thomas Leonard Imms (1811-1879) and passed down in the family.

This photo is from another similar horn. However Patrick's horn does not have the "& Koenig" part of the stamping, the rest, including the British coat of arms is the same, even the font is identical.

If anyone has any additional information about the PASK company, we would be very interested, and will pass it on to Patrick.

Trip to Paschendale

Last Friday, and Saturday we took a trip to visit some of the Commonwealth War Graves in France and Belgium. Our travelling companion was John who had never been to visit any graves, so our focus was on those people he is researching.

Initially we visited Flesquieres Hill British Cemetery in France, where John's great uncle Stanley George Bird is buried.

Our next stop was Pheasant Wood near Fromelles in northern France to see the site of the new Commonwealth War Grave cemetery where experts during a major archaeological dig found the remains of 250 World War I soldiers.

We then travelled into Belgium to see Hype Park Corner, and the Berks Cemetery Extension, for the Ploegsteert Memorial. We then drove to Ypres (Ieper) and visited the In Flanders Field museum. In the evening we attended the Menin Gate Last Post, where we witnessed a very poignant ceremony which included an address by the New Zealand High Commissioner followed by a Maori lament during the wreath laying, and a piper from the Black Watch.

On Saturday, we visited Tyne Cot Memorial, and the newly opened visitor's centre. This museum is stark, and minimalistic. However the accompanying voice of a young girl reading the names, and ages of those who gave their lives leaves a very lasting impression.

Finally we visited the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, near Poperinge.

A very interesting trip. We have included all our photographs in an album, and slideshow.

Current Activities

To those who regularly look at the Pask website and the blog you may have noticed an absence of updates and blogs. This is two fold:

1. We are renovating the house at the moment. Building & decorating work is being carried out by Stuart until the end of October.
2. The project that I have been managing at work for the last 2+ years is just about to go-live. It will be a phased rollout to 60 countries from June to August. So it is an exceptionally busy period.

So unfortunately there are not enough hours in the day. However hopefully normal service will be resumed in the not too distant future.

The Family History Event Sunday May 3

I am attending the Family History Event on Sunday May 3 at the Exhibition Hall 2, in the Barbican, London.

I will be on the computer help desk (Table 6) from 12:00 to 13:40, and from 15:20 to 17:00. If you are attending do let me know and we can perhaps arrange to have coffee.

The event looks to be very promising, with 15 lectures throughout the day, and over 90 exhibitors.

Peter Pask - Waterloo

Recently Stephen Pask of Australia was searching military records in Find My Past. He found a Pask who fought at Waterloo:

Private Peter Pask fought in Captain Wood's Light Infantry unit of the 1st Battalion 4th (King's Own) Regiment. This regiment has some ties to Yorkshire but does not necessarily mean this man came from there.

He was awarded the Waterloo Medal which was awarded to all ranks who fought in the battle.

We searched our records, and found 27 Peter Pasks in the database. However, only 1-2 likely. Based on the battle being on 18 June 1815, it could be:

Peter Pask born 1770 in Stoke by Clare, Suffolk - perhaps too old
Peter Pask born 1803 in Flempton cum Hargrave, Suffolk - probably too young

On the other hand it could be neither. Family stories like this would be passed down through the generations. We are in touch with descendants of both of the above families, and they are ardent researchers. They would be aware of this if it was their Peter Pask.

Back from Vacation

Our regular bloggers will have noticed that there has been no blogs for the past three weeks. We have just come back from a 3-week cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2).

We went from Southampton to Quebec, Halifax, Bar Harbour, Boston, and New York. Unfortunately the weather was not kind and we had a very rough crossing in the Atlantic both ways. We also experienced severe fog in Boston, and New York. We had to miss Rhode Island because the fog made it unsuitable to tender. On the way back we had to miss St. Johns, Newfoundland because of high winds and rough seas. Strangely enough on the last two days we had seas as smooth as a millpond.

Nevertheless, we did not let the weather spoil our enjoyment, or relaxation. The ship, food, ambiance, and staff were as usual excellent. The ship is like going home and we are made so welcome. We also met again some "old" friends, and made some new. Special thanks to Trish and Alan Foley, who were on our table. We look forward to continuing our friendship. Trish shares a common interest - need you ask - family history. We spent many an hour discussing family history and sources now available.

Of course during the trip, the One-Name Study was not neglected. A website update is imminent. Our focus this trip was the descendants of John & Mirabel Pask née Sparrow. A substantial number of lines have been updated, in preparation for the next Pask publication. All the ground work /research has been completed. Now it is just a case of formatting and compiling the book. We hope to have the first draft ready for when we visit Suffolk during early November.

Limited Access to E-Mails

As you can see last week was a very busy week with five new inquiries from researchers looking for Pask connections.

This always seems the case when I have limited access to e-mails. Last week I was in Germany, although on business, I had the opportunity to go to Immenstadt in the Bodensee, also known as Lake Constance. The drive down through the outskirts of the Black Forest was beautiful albeit in heavy rain at times.

I am away on business again this coming week. This time back to Galway Ireland. Stuart is holding the fort back at home. From previous experience, I will have limited access to e-mails. So apologies in advance if it takes a little longer to reply. Nevertheless keep sending me updates, as I will have my laptop with me, and able to work on the information.

Who Do You Think You Are Live

Tomorrow, and Sunday I will be manning the TMG and Census help desk at the Who Do You Think You Are Live show at Olympia.

I will be on desk 3, from 12:00-16:00 on both days.

So if you happen to be there, do look me up. It would be great to meet any Pask researchers.

New Blogs - Hints & Tips

You can receive notifications when there is new blog. I recommend that you use http://www.changedetection.com/monitor.html, to monitor the Pask, Paske Blog. (http://pask-paske.blogspot.com/).

The monitoring is easy to use, and quick to set up. Of course this applies to any website.

Sampler on ebay

A sampler has appeared on www.ebay.co.uk that was created by Sarah Pask aged 12, and dated 1894.

My passion, after family history, is cross-stitch. I have several family photographs that I have converted to cross-stitch.

Therefore I am bidding for this sampler, to try and keep it in the Pask family. If you think this is one of your family I would be more than happy to let you bid for it. However please do not start bidding against me, or we could see the price rocket!

There are 4-5 possible Sarah Pasks in that period:

1882/Q1 PASK, Elizabeth Sarah Poplar 1c 654
1882/Q4 PASK, Sarah Ann Wortley 9c 247
1882/Q4 PASK, Sarah Risbridge 4a 548
1883/Q1 PASK, Sarah Ann Stamford 7a 369
1883/Q1 PASK, Sarah Jane Warwick 6d 618

My guess it will be Sarah from the Risbridge registration district. However I will try and determine where the seller obtained it. This will hopefully enable us to identify which Sarah lovingly sewn it.