Ellen Barber
Ellen Eliza Barber nee Goode (1898- ) was born in Eastham London, England. Ellen and her parents emigrated To Canada around 1907, and her other siblings following one year later. They farmed on the Prairies for two years, then sold it and moved to Medicine Hat in 1908. In 1910 they moved to Powell River where her father worked in the mill. Her mother required a serious operation in 1911 which set the family back financially. Ellen quit school and started working on a switchboard at 14-years of age. Ellen was one of the first women active in the Vancouver Trades and Labour Congress and was involved in organizing the laundry and communication workers during the WWI period. She married John “Jake” Douglas Barber in 1943 at Vancouver’s Foresters Hall. Barber had been a high rigger, but following a 40 foot fall that caused serious injury and led to him being barred from the job, he returned to the logging camps as a first aid man. After John passed away in 1959, Ellen settled in North Vancouver.