Great-grandfather FRANK BARKER has always been a bit elusive, and he's the last of my generation's great grandparents to be located in context of his ancestry. His youngest child - my grandfather WALTER HENRY BARKER, known as JACK - was the youngest in the family of at least eight children. Because FRANK seems to have been - to put it bluntly - not very nice, and because he died in 1918, estranged from the family, we know little about him and even less about his past.
Various family members have researched Frank as much as they can, and cousin Chris has accessed information from the NZ archives about his war records, but I'm particularly interested in his beginnings in England and his ancestors' stories - and what circumstances contributed to making him the person he was.
I'm reasonably sure I've found his pre-NZ details, and it would be great to have my findings confirmed by DNA matches. Time will tell.
So, this is what I've found, and am hoping beyond hope that I've found the right FRANK BARKER.
Starting with his father- called FRANCIS BARKER who was born about 1795 in Yorkshire. He married MARY (most likely KELK) sometime before 1826 - assuming the birth of the first child came at least 9 months after the marriage . . . From at least 1826 (and possibly before) FRANCIS and MARY and family lived in the small hamlet of Brookhouse near a village called Laughten en le Morthern.
According to the Laughten en le Morthern parish registers, FRANCIS and MARY had the following children - all with FRANCIS's occupation given as labourer, and with dates of baptism given (rather than dates of birth):
JOHN BARKER 14.05.1826
ANN BARKER 27.07.1828
HANNAH BARKER 28.11.1830
MARY BARKER 28.07. 1833
ELIZABETH BARKER 02.08.1835
JANE BARKER 15.10.1837 (abode given as Brookhouse in this entry)
JOSEPH BARKER 16.06.1839 (most likely incorrectly transcribed as all other details fit. Abode also given as Brookhouse)
DAVID BARKER 16.12.1841 (Note: there is a burial record in the same parish for DAVID BARKER , infant of Brookhouse, buried 19.04.1842.
FRANCIS BARKER 03.04.1843
FRANCIS BARKER 13.10.1844 One of these (or are they both the same child?), I'm sure, is our FRANK BARKER.
Why are there two entries for FRANCIS BARKER - both with the same parents, same abode and same parish?
- Did the first Francis die as an infant and was he replaced the following year?
- Was he re-baptised? Interesting to note that there are 2 other baptisms on the same day as the second Francis.
- A clerk could have forgotten he had registered once and did it again for the quarter records
- The baby could have been baptised hurriedly at birth if it was sick and not expected to live, and then officially baptised later on and accepted into the church at a formal ceremony (which could account for the three-in-one-day occurrence). This theory is supported by the fact that the first baptism on 03.04.1843 took place on a Monday, and the second baptism on 13.10.1844 took place on a Sunday, so would have been part of the regular weekly Sunday service, no doubt.
What happened to the BARKER children?
- JOHN BARKER (age 30) (subject to further verification - deduced from records on Ancestry.com) married MARY ANN GREEN (age 29 - from Beeston) at the Parish Church of Leeds, Saint Andrews in the County of York, on December 22, 1856. JOHN was able to write his name but MARY ANN wasn't. JOHN's occupation is given as labourer. His father's name is given as FRANCIS whose occupation is also a labourer. (Note that FRANCIS's name has been transcribed as Francois.) MARY ANN's father, Jonathon, was a miner (collier on her baptism register) and her mother's name was ELIZABETH. The clue that this is our JOHN BARKER comes from the censuses of 1861 and 1871 where JOHN and MARY ANN are living at Beeston, and their places of birth are given as Laughten and Beeston respectively. In 1861, JOHN's occupation is given as a railway labourer, and in 1871 is given as an excavator (Leeds Corporation). Note: JOHN and MARY ANN appear to have had no children.
JOHN and MARY ANN are both buried at St Mary's Parish Cemetery, Beeston, Leeds.
John died in 1877 and MARY died in 1885. Note that MARY ANN remarried after JOHN's death and is buried under the name of MARY ANN HOLDSWORTH - wife of GEORGE HOLDSWORTH.
- HANNAH BARKER married THOMAS GRANT, also from Brookhouse, on 14.12.1847. She would have been about 17 years old. THOMAS GRANT's occupation was given as a labourer, as was the occupation of his father, also known as THOMAS. HANNAH's father's name is given as FRANCIS BARKER, labourer of Brookhouse. HANNAH and THOMAS had at least 6 children. THOMAS was a farm labourer and coal miner over the years.
It looks like MARY BARKER, mother of all the above children, died when FRANCIS was just a young child - or baby, depending on the baptism date you choose. There is a burial entry in the Laughten en le Morthern parish register for MARY BARKER, age 42, of Brookhouse, buried on 13th of March, 1845. Poor MARY - she must have married at age 18 or very early 19 - assuming JOHN was her first child and arrived within up to 9 months of her marriage. As yet, I can't find a marriage record for FRANCIS and MARY - but she was undeniably young, and the rest of her life was spent on the relentlessly regular reproduction and care of at least 9 children at two year intervals over the next 18 years.
In the Laughten en le Morthern parish register there is a marriage entry for November 3, 1845, for FRANCIS BARKER, a widower, marrying LUCY STEER, daughter of HENRY STEER. FRANCIS must have remarried and LUCY was probably a stepmother to our FRANK who would have been 2 to 4 years old. Interestingly, FRANCIS gives the name of his father as FRANCIS and his father's occupation as a wheelwright.
Maps of Yorkshire. These were originally published by Ordnance Survey, Southampton, 1848-1857, so this was in our FRANK's lifetime and gives us a really good idea of what the place was like when he was a young man. This specific map (Sheet 296) is of Laughten en le Morthern and Brookhouse. Enlarge and move the map around to get a close look.
Click on the link to find out more about Brookhouse and Laughten en le Morthern today.
The earliest reference to Frank being in New Zealand puts him in Otago by 1863.
In July 1863, Governor George Grey and the colonial government invaded the Waikato. Four regiments of Waikato Militia were raised to serve in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato districts. Any men who enlisted - if not already in the North Island of New Zealand - were to be given free passage to a designated port and were promised land in the settlements that would be established after the war. FRANK'S place of enrolment was Otago, on September 2nd, 1863, so he must have taken up this offer to end up in the Waikato later that year. He enlisted in the 2nd Regiment, Waikato Militia, under the command of Theodore Haultain. Men for this regiment were sourced mainly from Otago, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
FRANK'S registration number was 892, and his name was given as FRANK BARKER. He enrolled on 2nd September, 1863 - in Otago. He gives his place (parish) of birth as Brookhouse, in York county, and this single piece of information has been the biggest help in finding out where he came from, geographically and ancestrally. FRANK'S trade is given as a miner - although it's not clear whether this was his trade in England or once he had arrived in New Zealand - and his age is 21, which puts his year of birth as 1842 - give or take a year, assuming he was telling the truth about his age! Interestingly, his height is included - at 5 foot 5 inches, so he was not a particularly big man. Somewhat aggravatingly, under the "Ship" heading in his military details, is listed "Auckland" which appears to be the name of the ship in which he came to New Zealand. Try googling Auckland in any combination of words to find the arrival of a ship and see how frustrating it can be. It seems several other men in the same regiment also enlisted in Otago and give their ship as "Auckland", so it looks like a package deal for many of them!
In March 1864, Māori entrenching parties were building fortifications at Ōrākau. The 2nd Waikato Regiment joined other imperial troops there, and ‘Rewi’s last stand’ at Ōrākau Pa took place between 31 March and 2 April 1864.
In June 1864, sites were selected for the regiments, and the 2nd Waikato Regiment established the Alexandra East redoubt (often called the East Pirongia redoubt) in the Waikato. It was built for 300 men and occupied a flat grassed area on a slight rise overlooking the Waipa River. In addition to the officers’ and soldiers’ huts and tents within the redoubt, there was a large commissariat store and hospital building nearby, and some structures near the river landing between the two redoubts. Kihikihi was also another base of the Waikato 2nd Militia.
By the end of 1864, the Waikato regiments were withdrawn from the Te Awamutu front line and were established in frontier settlements, each defended by a redoubt. Each Waikato military settler received a grant of one town acre and a section of from fifty acres upward, according to rank.
It seems the 2nd Regiment was not well treated at the end of their duty - as complained by a correspondent to the Daily Southern Cross in November 1865. FRANK would have been one of the disgruntled militia sharing the same sentiments, I'm sure. At least seven months after they finished duties, they were still asking the Government for work (building roads or bridges) or a Crown grant.
By July 1866, the military settlers were petitioning government for payment and allowances that had not been paid since March the previous year. Many had families to provide for and were enduring great hardship and privation and many ended up abandoning their allotted lands.
By August 1866, the military settlers' claims had been rejected as not being well founded and the Government declined to comply with their request. This surely must have had an impact on FRANK, who cannot have had any independent means. By 1866, at Alexandra, the 2nd Waikato Regiment settlement consisted of 675 men (excluding officers), 102 women, and 183 children.
By December 1866, FRANK'S entitlement for a Crown grant was confirmed. His name is fourth in the list.
The Militia was disbanded in 1867 and replaced by the Armed Constabulary, and in 1896 the name Alexandra was changed to Pirongia to avoid confusion with the Central Otago town.
FRANK stayed in Alexandra until at least 1873, when he married REBECCA DRABBLE from Ngahinaporiri. The wedding took place at Te Awamutu and, most interestingly, the marriage notice confirms FRANK's militia registration details giving (Lake) Brookhouse, Yorkshire as his original home. There is no record of anywhere called Lake Brookhouse.
Various family members have researched Frank as much as they can, and cousin Chris has accessed information from the NZ archives about his war records, but I'm particularly interested in his beginnings in England and his ancestors' stories - and what circumstances contributed to making him the person he was.
I'm reasonably sure I've found his pre-NZ details, and it would be great to have my findings confirmed by DNA matches. Time will tell.
So, this is what I've found, and am hoping beyond hope that I've found the right FRANK BARKER.
Starting with his father- called FRANCIS BARKER who was born about 1795 in Yorkshire. He married MARY (most likely KELK) sometime before 1826 - assuming the birth of the first child came at least 9 months after the marriage . . . From at least 1826 (and possibly before) FRANCIS and MARY and family lived in the small hamlet of Brookhouse near a village called Laughten en le Morthern.
According to the Laughten en le Morthern parish registers, FRANCIS and MARY had the following children - all with FRANCIS's occupation given as labourer, and with dates of baptism given (rather than dates of birth):
JOHN BARKER 14.05.1826
ANN BARKER 27.07.1828
HANNAH BARKER 28.11.1830
MARY BARKER 28.07. 1833
ELIZABETH BARKER 02.08.1835
JANE BARKER 15.10.1837 (abode given as Brookhouse in this entry)
JOSEPH BARKER 16.06.1839 (most likely incorrectly transcribed as all other details fit. Abode also given as Brookhouse)
DAVID BARKER 16.12.1841 (Note: there is a burial record in the same parish for DAVID BARKER , infant of Brookhouse, buried 19.04.1842.
FRANCIS BARKER 03.04.1843
FRANCIS BARKER 13.10.1844 One of these (or are they both the same child?), I'm sure, is our FRANK BARKER.
Why are there two entries for FRANCIS BARKER - both with the same parents, same abode and same parish?
- Did the first Francis die as an infant and was he replaced the following year?
- Was he re-baptised? Interesting to note that there are 2 other baptisms on the same day as the second Francis.
- A clerk could have forgotten he had registered once and did it again for the quarter records
- The baby could have been baptised hurriedly at birth if it was sick and not expected to live, and then officially baptised later on and accepted into the church at a formal ceremony (which could account for the three-in-one-day occurrence). This theory is supported by the fact that the first baptism on 03.04.1843 took place on a Monday, and the second baptism on 13.10.1844 took place on a Sunday, so would have been part of the regular weekly Sunday service, no doubt.
What happened to the BARKER children?
- JOHN BARKER (age 30) (subject to further verification - deduced from records on Ancestry.com) married MARY ANN GREEN (age 29 - from Beeston) at the Parish Church of Leeds, Saint Andrews in the County of York, on December 22, 1856. JOHN was able to write his name but MARY ANN wasn't. JOHN's occupation is given as labourer. His father's name is given as FRANCIS whose occupation is also a labourer. (Note that FRANCIS's name has been transcribed as Francois.) MARY ANN's father, Jonathon, was a miner (collier on her baptism register) and her mother's name was ELIZABETH. The clue that this is our JOHN BARKER comes from the censuses of 1861 and 1871 where JOHN and MARY ANN are living at Beeston, and their places of birth are given as Laughten and Beeston respectively. In 1861, JOHN's occupation is given as a railway labourer, and in 1871 is given as an excavator (Leeds Corporation). Note: JOHN and MARY ANN appear to have had no children.
JOHN and MARY ANN are both buried at St Mary's Parish Cemetery, Beeston, Leeds.
John died in 1877 and MARY died in 1885. Note that MARY ANN remarried after JOHN's death and is buried under the name of MARY ANN HOLDSWORTH - wife of GEORGE HOLDSWORTH.
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| Grave of JOHN BARKER and his wife MARY ANN HOLDSWORTH |
- HANNAH BARKER married THOMAS GRANT, also from Brookhouse, on 14.12.1847. She would have been about 17 years old. THOMAS GRANT's occupation was given as a labourer, as was the occupation of his father, also known as THOMAS. HANNAH's father's name is given as FRANCIS BARKER, labourer of Brookhouse. HANNAH and THOMAS had at least 6 children. THOMAS was a farm labourer and coal miner over the years.
It looks like MARY BARKER, mother of all the above children, died when FRANCIS was just a young child - or baby, depending on the baptism date you choose. There is a burial entry in the Laughten en le Morthern parish register for MARY BARKER, age 42, of Brookhouse, buried on 13th of March, 1845. Poor MARY - she must have married at age 18 or very early 19 - assuming JOHN was her first child and arrived within up to 9 months of her marriage. As yet, I can't find a marriage record for FRANCIS and MARY - but she was undeniably young, and the rest of her life was spent on the relentlessly regular reproduction and care of at least 9 children at two year intervals over the next 18 years.
In the Laughten en le Morthern parish register there is a marriage entry for November 3, 1845, for FRANCIS BARKER, a widower, marrying LUCY STEER, daughter of HENRY STEER. FRANCIS must have remarried and LUCY was probably a stepmother to our FRANK who would have been 2 to 4 years old. Interestingly, FRANCIS gives the name of his father as FRANCIS and his father's occupation as a wheelwright.
Maps of Yorkshire. These were originally published by Ordnance Survey, Southampton, 1848-1857, so this was in our FRANK's lifetime and gives us a really good idea of what the place was like when he was a young man. This specific map (Sheet 296) is of Laughten en le Morthern and Brookhouse. Enlarge and move the map around to get a close look.
Click on the link to find out more about Brookhouse and Laughten en le Morthern today.
The earliest reference to Frank being in New Zealand puts him in Otago by 1863.
In July 1863, Governor George Grey and the colonial government invaded the Waikato. Four regiments of Waikato Militia were raised to serve in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato districts. Any men who enlisted - if not already in the North Island of New Zealand - were to be given free passage to a designated port and were promised land in the settlements that would be established after the war. FRANK'S place of enrolment was Otago, on September 2nd, 1863, so he must have taken up this offer to end up in the Waikato later that year. He enlisted in the 2nd Regiment, Waikato Militia, under the command of Theodore Haultain. Men for this regiment were sourced mainly from Otago, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
FRANK'S registration number was 892, and his name was given as FRANK BARKER. He enrolled on 2nd September, 1863 - in Otago. He gives his place (parish) of birth as Brookhouse, in York county, and this single piece of information has been the biggest help in finding out where he came from, geographically and ancestrally. FRANK'S trade is given as a miner - although it's not clear whether this was his trade in England or once he had arrived in New Zealand - and his age is 21, which puts his year of birth as 1842 - give or take a year, assuming he was telling the truth about his age! Interestingly, his height is included - at 5 foot 5 inches, so he was not a particularly big man. Somewhat aggravatingly, under the "Ship" heading in his military details, is listed "Auckland" which appears to be the name of the ship in which he came to New Zealand. Try googling Auckland in any combination of words to find the arrival of a ship and see how frustrating it can be. It seems several other men in the same regiment also enlisted in Otago and give their ship as "Auckland", so it looks like a package deal for many of them!
In March 1864, Māori entrenching parties were building fortifications at Ōrākau. The 2nd Waikato Regiment joined other imperial troops there, and ‘Rewi’s last stand’ at Ōrākau Pa took place between 31 March and 2 April 1864.
In June 1864, sites were selected for the regiments, and the 2nd Waikato Regiment established the Alexandra East redoubt (often called the East Pirongia redoubt) in the Waikato. It was built for 300 men and occupied a flat grassed area on a slight rise overlooking the Waipa River. In addition to the officers’ and soldiers’ huts and tents within the redoubt, there was a large commissariat store and hospital building nearby, and some structures near the river landing between the two redoubts. Kihikihi was also another base of the Waikato 2nd Militia.
By the end of 1864, the Waikato regiments were withdrawn from the Te Awamutu front line and were established in frontier settlements, each defended by a redoubt. Each Waikato military settler received a grant of one town acre and a section of from fifty acres upward, according to rank.
By July 1866, the military settlers were petitioning government for payment and allowances that had not been paid since March the previous year. Many had families to provide for and were enduring great hardship and privation and many ended up abandoning their allotted lands.
By August 1866, the military settlers' claims had been rejected as not being well founded and the Government declined to comply with their request. This surely must have had an impact on FRANK, who cannot have had any independent means. By 1866, at Alexandra, the 2nd Waikato Regiment settlement consisted of 675 men (excluding officers), 102 women, and 183 children.
By December 1866, FRANK'S entitlement for a Crown grant was confirmed. His name is fourth in the list.
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| COMPENSATION., Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2934, 20 December 1866 This is most likely to be our Frank (4th in list). |
The Militia was disbanded in 1867 and replaced by the Armed Constabulary, and in 1896 the name Alexandra was changed to Pirongia to avoid confusion with the Central Otago town.
Marriage of Frank Barker and Rebecca Drabble
MARRIAGES., New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 3625, 24 June 1873
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| Marriage of Frank Barker and Rebecca Drabble MARRIAGES., New Zealand Herald, Volume X, Issue 3625, 24 June 1873 |
I will add more to this, and include Part 2 once I collate the next lot of information. Stay tuned!
