Photos - Barbados Relatives

June 10, 2018

"Dad must have forgotten he had these." That's what I said to myself as I sat on the couch at my parents house looking through a memory box I had purchased as a a gift for him years ago. Among other pictures and what not, was an envelope labeled "Photos -- Barbados Relatives." I remember the disappointment in his voice as he told me the story of how his Barbados family didn't have any pictures to share with him when he met them for the first time. At some point, he must have recalled he had these. Were they photos his father had that he inherited? Or were these indeed pictures they had given him. Anyway, it's interesting how things have a way of turning up when you least expect it.

It's also interesting how the universe has a way of delivering information to you when your inner voice asks questions. After I found these pictures, I wondered what it must have been like for my grandfather growing up in Marley Vale. What was the neighborhood like? Where did he hang out? What were the names of those places? The day after finding these pictures I decided to check out Youtube to see if anyone had posted anything new about Marley Vale, Barbados. I check it from time to time in hopes of catching glimpses of where my grandfather grew up. The search I did on Youtube yielded a series of videos created by Carson Don Lorde. It turns out that the videos had been uploaded that same day. On the videos he uses Google Maps and narrates a walking tour of Marley Vale, East Point and other areas of St Philip Parish. Carson grew up in Barbados in the 1960's and 70's. My grandfather Harold Murrell Sr. was born in 1903 and left the island in 1926. I realize there will be differences in what the two men experienced but in any event, a lot can be gleamed from listening to these videos. I've posted the link to two of them here but there are several others that he's created.