Henry Frederick Francis Adair Barrington (28 July 1808

Beckett Hall Beckett Hall (or Beckett House) is a country house at Shrivenham in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire). The present house dates from 1831. History This manor is first mentioned in the Domesday survey, and was acquired b ...

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...

in Berkshire - 25 March 1882

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47 ...

), was a South African lawyer, farmer and member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. Returning to England in 1848 he married Mary Georgiana Knox, and they landed at

Plettenberg Bay Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plet or Plett, is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of the census of 2001, there were 29,149 population. It was originally named Bahia Formosa ("beautifu ...

, their cargo including wedding gifts, family heirlooms and furniture, and farming equipment. The building of 'Portland Manor' lasted 16 years, and included eight bedrooms, a library, and a large dining room. He also constructed one of the earliest sawmills for cutting Black Stinkwood, experimented with silkworms and bees, and grew apples with a view to producing

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

. His interest in silk production and mulberry trees as food plants led to his being featured in South African writer

Dalene Matthee Dalene Matthee (13 October 1938 – 20 February 2005) was a South African author best known for her four "Forest Novels", written in and around the Knysna Forest. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages, including English, Fren ...

’s novel, "Moerbeibos" ('Mulberry Forest'). The great forest fire of February 1869, in which large parts of the forest between

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them ...

and

Humansdorp Humansdorp is a small town and surrounding district in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, with a population of around 29,000 during the census of 2011. It is part of the Kouga Local Municipality of the Sarah Baartman District. The town is th ...

were completely destroyed, also gutted 'Portland Manor'. The following year he was elected to the

Cape Parliament The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was establis ...

. Henry was a son of Reverend George Barrington, 5th

Viscount Barrington Viscount Barrington, of Ardglass in the County Down, County of Down, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1720 for the lawyer, theologian and politician John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington, John Barrington. He was made Ba ...

of Ardglass (1761-1829),

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of Durham Cathedral and rector of

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

, and Elizabeth Adair (1769-1841). At first he qualified as a lawyer and joined the diplomatic service, becoming attaché in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Resigning from the service, he landed in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in February 1842, and bought an estate named 'Portland' near Knysna from Thomas Henry Duthie, who had inherited the property from his father-in-law George Rex.

Marriage and family

Henry married Mary Georgiana Knox from Bath, daughter of Colonel Wright Knox, on 25 July 1848 and they raised a family of three sons and four daughters.''The Peerage''
/ref> After Henry's death in 1882 the estate was left to his eldest son, John, who died a bachelor in 1901. One of Henry's daughters, Kate, then inherited the estate. Her husband was Francis Newdigate of Forest Hall, who died in the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. Children #John Wildman Shute Barrington b. 17 Nov 1849, d. 23 Sep 1901 #Henry Robert Shute Barrington b. 14 Jun 1852, d. 1919 #Florina Elizabeth Jane Barrington b. 26 Nov 1853, d. 29 Jul 1912 #Samuel William Percy Gordon Shute Barrington b. 24 Nov 1855, d. 19 Feb 1931 #Katherine Caroline Barrington b. 19 May 1861, d. 8 Aug 1936 #Idonea Maria Barrington b. 21 Aug 1863, d. 13 Feb 1945 #Gabrielle Carlotta Barrington b. 13 Feb 1868, d. 19 Aug 1946

References

South African politicians 19th-century South African politicians 1808 births 1882 deaths Younger sons of viscounts {{WesternCape-politician-stub