Sir William Henry Barber, 1st Baronet (9 November 1860 – 2 July 1927), known as Henry Barber, was a wealthy solicitor and property developer who made his fortune expanding Birmingham's sprawling suburbs, building and renting out 5,000 properties in areas including Sparkbrook,

Hay Mills Hay Mills is an area of east Birmingham, England straddling the A45 road, A45 Coventry Road about south east of the city centre. North of the Coventry Road is mainly residential whereas the south is mixed residential and commercial. The area wa ...

, Acocks Green, Bordesley Green and

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

.Grimley, Terry. ''A fine art gift to the city'',

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

, 1 April 2006 He was born in Handsworth (then in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, now Birmingham), the eldest son of a master jeweller, and grew up in the city's Jewellery Quarter before training as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

. In 1893, he married Martha Constance Hattie Onions, who was an heiress, daughter of Simon Brookes Onions, of the Birmingham family of bellowsmakers, J. C. Onions (later, Alldays and Onions Engineering Company). The couple moved into the eighteenth-century Culham Court on the Thames near Henley in the same year, which they rented. By his mid-thirties the couple retired but their connections with the city remained strong. He donated the original marble statue to Queen Victoria in Victoria Square, Birmingham in 1897. Designed by Thomas Brock it was unveiled on 10 January 1901, twelve days before the death of the Queen. In the

1924 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1924 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were awards announced on 8 February 1924 to mark the exit of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who resigned his first term as Prime Minister in late January. The recipients of honours are displayed he ...

, Barber was created a baronet, of Culham Court in the

County of Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, for 'Political Services to Birmingham'. On his death, the baronetcy became extinct.

Henry Barber Trust

After his death, Barber's widow founded the

Barber Institute of Fine Arts The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham. The Grade I listed Art Deco building was designed by Robert At ...

at the University of Birmingham ''for the study and encouragement of art and music''. Lady Barber's inheritance was also dedicated to the Institute and was used to expand the collection and fund the construction of a new building: the Grade I listed building of art deco architecture was designed by Robert Atkinson and opened in 1939 by Queen Mary.

References

1860 births 1927 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People associated with the University of Birmingham People from Handsworth, West Midlands {{UK-baronet-stub