Enoch Barker (1829 - 1892)

Born 2 Aug 1829 in Rawcliffe, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Hall) Barker — married 25 Dec 1851 in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Amelia (Foster) Barker — married 14 Feb 1859 in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 17 Jan 1892 at age 62 in Burwood, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

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Biography

Enoch was born in 1829. He was the son of George Barker and Anne Leake.

Enoch emigrated from the UK to New Zealand arriving in Timaru, Canterbury on the 12th of October 1858 aboard the SS Strathallan of the P&O Line . He was accompanied by his two children Emily Jane and Sarah Ann .The arrival documentation also indicates that his wife Sarah also landed , however the ships documentation stated that she died during the passage . His occupation is stated as Gardener on the immigration documentation .

He married Amelia Foster on the 14 February 1859.^[1]

Seven children were born to them...

1. Louis Enoch Barker (~1860 - ~1944)
2. Amelia (Barker) Higgins (1861 - 1929)
3. Alice Barker (1862 - )
4. George Volney Barker (1864 - 1866)
5. Volney James Barker (1868 - )
6. Foster George Barker (1870 - 1954)
7. Marianne Barker (1873 - ).

Enoch worked as a gardener for the Provincial Government in Christchurch. He supervised the planting of many trees in Hagley Park, the Four Avenues, and began to lay out and plant the Botanic Gardens.

He then bought land in New Brighton for a market garden.

His body was found in the Avon on the 17 January 1892.

An inquest was held on the 18 January...

The New Brighton Drowning Case

An inquest was held at Free's Bower Hotel, New Brighton, yesterday afternoon, touching the death of Enoch Barker, whose body was found in the river Avon on Sunday morning. Mr Beetham, coroner, presided at the inquiry, which was conducted by Mr Inspector Pender. Mr Langford was chosen foreman of the jury. Mr Joyce appeared on behalf of the widow and family. After the jury had viewed the body, Henry E. Atkin was called. He deposed that he had been in the employ of the deceased for six or seven years, and had always found him a man of good spirits and one not likely to attempt suicide or speak of it. He last saw the deceased the evening previous, when he appeared all right. His habit was to call witness at 5 a,m., but he did not do so on Sunday; nor did he appear as was his customary plan. His absence being noted, a search was made and the body found in the river, some fifty yards from a drain, the door of which deceased used to attend to. He visited the drain at least once daily to see that it was not stopped up. To Mr Joyce—He went to look at the drain after he had met with the accident. The body was found about fifty yards below the drain.

Geo. Wilson, a carpenter, living near by, heard the alarm and went with others in the boat which was procured. The body they found about ten or fifteen yards from the side of the river. The water was high, and the tide had just turned. There were no marks of violence on the body. He had known the deceased for nearly twenty years. He always appeared in good spirits. Barker could have quite easily fallen off the plank on which he had to stand to pull the chain of the flood gates. To the Jury—He imagined deceased fell in close to where the stick and hat were found, about twenty or thirty yards below the flood gate. He might have sat down and fallen asleep, and have been carried away by the water. Emily Barker, widow of the deceased, stated that her late husband was sixty-two years of age last April. He had no financial troubles. He was a sober man, and only occasionally took a glass. He was subject to giddiness, and had often complained of nearly falling down. The last she saw of deceased was on Saturday night at ten o'clock, when he went to bed. She had no reason to suspect that he was going wrong in his head. Her husband attended to the drain, because unless it were kept clear the water flooded the garden. Sarah Ann Free, wife of the licensee of the hotel, deposed that she knew the deceased well. He called in at the hotel sometimes, but not on Saturday or Sunday. She heard a noise on Sunday morning, but it appeared to proceed from inside the house, and not from outside.

To Mr Joyce—-The noise was about 3 a. m., as of some one talking in the house. Dr. Moorhouse, who made a post mortem examination -of the body, deposed that he found it.healthy. The lungs and heart gave every indication of death from drowning. The brain showed similar evidence. There were no marks of violence on the body ; no evidence of brain or heart disease. To Mr Joyce—Having heard the evidence he would say that the accident might have happened by deceased falling off the drain door.

Several of the jury were inclined to think thai the probability was that deceased had fallen off the drain door into the river and thus been drowned.

The Coroner observed that there was no evidence to say precisely how deceased got into the river and the verdict had to be ih accordance with the evidence, not on probabilities. The jury, without retiring, returned a verdict of Found Drowned, and that there was no evidence to show how deceased came into the water.^[2]

He is buried at the All Saints Anglican Church Graveyard, 305 New Brighton Road, Burwood. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ New Zealand Births Deaths and Marriages, https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/, accessed 2 March 2021, Marriage registration 1859/1708 for Amelia Foster and Enoch Barker
2. ↑ Inquest, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP18920119.2.6, Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8075, 19 January 1892, Page 3
3. ↑ BillionGraves.com, https://billiongraves.com/grave/Enoch-Barker/13881965, Grave record for Enoch Barker (2 Aug 1829 - 17 Jan 1892), BillionGraves Record 13881965 Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand