Henry Edward Barker KCMG (1872 - 1942)

Born 13 Mar 1872 in Alexandria, Egypt

Ancestors

Husband of Emmeline Mary (Cornish) Barker — married 21 May 1896 in Alexandria, Egypt

Descendants

Died 20 Jul 1942 at age 70 in Alexandria, Egypt

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Biography

Henry Edward Barker (Harry) was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1872. He is the eldest son of Henry Barker ( and Alice Adeline Ellen Lipona Joyce.

Harry was educated in England and he married Emmeline Mary Cornish (Lena) in 1896 and they had 3 children.

Two of his younger brothers Percy Clarence Barker and Francis Oswald Barker (Oswald) both died in South Africa aged 24. Percy had eloped and been cut off financially by their father and died in Johannesburg in 1898 and Oswald was killed in action in Ladysmith, Natal in 1900, during the Boer war.

Along with his remaining two brothers Godfrey Harold Barker and Cyril Lancelot Barker, Harry was taken into the family business Barker and Company. The company' Barker and Co was started in 1848 by his father and his uncle Frederick Barker.

In 1905, after his father retired, Harry was made the managing partner in the business. His brothers were not interested in the business and sold their shares to Harry. Harry appointed Stanley Gordon, the husband of his youngest sister Gertrude, as manager of Barker and Co. Harry was an executive director of 15 different companies, which included the National Bank of Egypt, The Alexandria Water Company (established by his father in law, Josiah Cornish), Marconi telecommunications company, the Egyptian Cotton Exchange, textile factories, insurance, construction and engineering concerns.

Harry's brothers traveled the world before both joining the British Army in the First World War in 1914. Harry served as the head of the British Ministry of Shipping during both the First and Second World Wars, working for the Ministry of War Transport as well as in civilian transportation.

In June 1942 Harry was made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). He died in Alexandria, Egypt a month later, aged 70 and was buried there.

Sources

• http://www.levantineheritage.com/barker.htm
• http://gramstedt.com/getperson.php?personID=I30305&tree=all
• http://www.levantineheritage.com/book5.htm