John Barkaway

John & Ruth Barkaway

The memorial is on the side of the organ that John used to play.

John was born in 1919 in Bocking in Essex. He was always very musical, playing the piano when he was a young boy, and going on to be organist at St Mary’s church, Bocking. He worked at Courtaulds in Bocking and joined the Essex Regiment T.A. so he was called up early on in the war.

He was made a corporal and managed to play the organ in all the places he visited abroad in the 2nd World War including Jerusalem, Durban and Cairo where he assisted in a rendering of Handel’s “Messiah” in Cairo Cathedral to an audience of 2000 and which was broadcast by the BBC.

He was luckily serving at Headquarters in Cairo when his entire regiment, the 2nd/5th Essex, were captured by the Germans after a desert battle.

John married Ruth Hurry in Bocking in 1951 and they had 3 daughters.

In 1961 the family came to Derbyshire due to John’s job as a Manager for Courtaulds Textiles. He became organist at Melbourne Church and joined the Derby and District Organists’ Association, of which he was made Chairman in 1966.

John passed on his role as Organist and Choirmaster of Melbourne Church to Laurence Rogers in 1975 but continued to support him. 

He died in ..... and his wife Ruth died in 2020.