Ardant and Jessie Barkhouse

Jessie and Ardant Barkhouse 

Ardant (Bub) Alexander Barkhouse (1878-1967) married Jessie (Nan) Bennett (1872-1959) and had two children, Hilda and Josephine. Unfortunately, Josephine died at a very young age. Hilda married Reginald Hudson, and had three children. One of their daughters was Phyllis.

Phyllis (Mom) spoke fondly of her years with her grandparents, and her time spent on the Barkhouse farm.








Many of her stories were about the animals on the farm, particularly Bub's horses, Monday and Friday. They were named as such, as those were the days that they were born on. Mom relayed once that "Friday was such a pet. Judy could go in and roll around and pet him, but you couldn't do that with Monday!"

Ardant with Monday and Friday

In those days, most farms were self-sufficient. "Bub always had an ice house, and he had all the equipment to make and store the ice. Bub would put sawdust over top in the winter time, so it would freeze. The best part was that we could have ice-cream well into the summer time. "

Phyllis Arleen Hudson

Phyllis Hudson (circa 1924)

Phyllis Arleen Hudson was born in 1922, to Reginald and Hilda Hudson (nee Barkhouse). She had two siblings, Reginald and Louise. Phyllis grew up in Auburn, Nova Scotia, and she always spoke fondly of her years at her grandparent's (Jessie and Ardant Barkhouse) farm near Aylesford, Nova Scotia.

Phyllis married Alcide Comeau in 1942, and they raised four children together.

Painting by Phyllis

Later in life, Phyllis, while raising her family with Alcide, took to painting. Her oil paintings reflected her love for the outdoors, particularly the water and lighthouses. These pieces of artwork are treasured in our house, and will be passed to our children, and for generations to come.