John Barker (1847 – 21 May 1925) was a South Australian businessman and sportsman, noted for his long chairmanship of the South Australian Jockey Club.
History
Alfred Barker (c. 1812 – 24 January 1880) and Priscilla Barker (1816 – 31 December 1900) née Chambers, a sister of James Chambers.
Alfred arrived in South Australia as an officer on the brig ''Rapid'' in August 1836, his wife-to-be Priscilla aboard ''John Renwick'' in February 1837. They married in 1842. Alfred died at Baldina House, St. John's Wood, now part of Prospect, South Australia; Priscilla died at
Henley Beach, South Australia
Henley Beach is a coastal suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Charles Sturt.
History
Henley Beach was named for the English town of Henley-on-Thames, the home town of Sir Charles Cooper, South Australia's first judge. Cooper ha ...
John Barker was born in Yankalilla, educated at
John L. Young
John Lorenzo Young (30 May 1826 in London – 26 July 1881 at sea) was an English-Australian educationalist and founder of the Adelaide Educational Institution.
History
Young was born in London, a son of John Tonkin Young (1802 – 10 April 18 ...
's Adelaide Educational Institution and was employed as a clerk with the Bank of Australasia.
He married his cousin Catherine Chambers, daughter of James Chambers.
John and Catherine's brother Hugh Chambers (1848 – 20 December 1893) carried on business as Barker & Chambers, stock agents and auctioneers from 1877, taking over "Sturt yards" and building the "Sturt Horse Bazaar" on the east side of the Sturt Hotel, Grenfell Street.
In 1885 F. J. Beck & Co. purchased Baker & Chambers' property, and the Rundle Street site of
Patrick Gay
Patrick Gay was a cabinetmaker and businessmen of Adelaide, South Australia, for whom Gay's Arcade was named.
History
Patrick Gay, sen. (c. 1815 – 7 October 1866), his wife Agnes Waddell Gay (c. 1816 – 16 November 1903) and their small family ...
's burnt-out furniture factory, to build the
Adelaide Arcade
Adelaide Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is linked to, and closely associated with, Gay's Arcade.
History
The property on which the Arcade was built was the scene of two d ...
, between
Rundle
The Rundle family name is a prominent one in many parts of southwest England, particularly Cornwall.
Notable people with the surname include:
*Adam Rundle, English football player
* David Rundle, South African cricketer
* David Allen Rundle, Ame ...
Gay's Arcade
Adelaide Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is linked to, and closely associated with, Gay's Arcade.
History
The property on which the Arcade was built was the scene of two disastrous fires: the f ...
between it and Twin Street. Baker & Chambers took over the John Bull Livery Stables,
Currie Street
Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map of the
Edward Meade Bagot
Edward Meade (also spelled "Mead") "Ned" Bagot (13 December 1822 – 28 July 1886), was a pastoralist and developer who held large properties in Central Australia.
History
Edward was born in Rockforest, Tubber, County Clare Ireland,
(1822 – 27 July 1886) (founder of Bagot, Shakes and Lewis), disappeared in 1886, John Barker organised the search party.
Other interests
He was a director of the Adelaide Steamship Company and the Executor, Trustee & Agency Company, and a member of the local board of advice of Dalgety & Company, Limited.
During The Great War and afterwards he was active with the Red Cross Society.
He was chairman of the finance committee of the South Australian Soldiers' Fund, whose chairman was A. A. Simpson, a board member of the South Australian Chamber of Manufactures, whose president was Wallace Bruce and secretary was H. E. Winterbottom, and an adherent of the Church of England and a member of St. Cuthbert's Church, Prospect, whose rector was the Rev. W. H. Johnson. These gentlemen all contributed to his obituary.
Horseracing
As a young man he was an ''aficionado'' of coursing, then turned to horse racing. He was partner with James Hill, of Clare in several horses including ''The Greek'', winner in 1909 of the
South Australian Derby
The South Australian Derby is a South Australian Jockey Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, at set weights, run over a distance of 2,500 metres at Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide, Australia during the SAJC Autumn Carniv ...
. Another of his horses, ''Gunadorah'', out of ''Eudorus'', won several good races in Victoria.
He was elected to committee of the
South Australian Jockey Club
South Australian Jockey Club is the principal race club in South Australia.
First racing events
The first horse racing events in South Australia took place at a well-attended picnic meeting held over 1 and 2 January 1838. In August 1838, ridin ...
in 1894, and was appointed chairman in May 1909, succeeding Sir Richard Baker. He served in both capacities until July 1924, when he resigned from the board, and was made a life member of the club. Chairman W. B. Carr and S. J. Jacobs, a fellow committeeman, contributed to his obituary.
He acted as honorary judge at both S.A.J.C. and (rival) A.R.C. meetings, and his decisions were never questioned. The Chairman of the Adelaide Racing C1ub, James Hall, and Dr. A. F. Lynch, acting Chairman of the Port Adelaide Racing Club while Dr. A. V. Benson was away at the war, also paid tributes.
Family
Barker married his cousin Catherine Chambers (1843–1904), daughter of James Chambers on 11 March 1872, after who the town of
Katherine, Northern Territory
Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, southeast of Darwin. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory and is known as the place where "The outbac ...
was named.
They had three children:
*Eleanor Kate Barker (1875 – 2 August 1954) of Prospect
*Alfred Edward Barker ( – 25 June 1925), of Alpha road, Prospect
*Priscilla Mary Barker (1883 – 11 June 1918)
They had a residence "Wingfield", 22 Alpha Road Prospect.
Barker's siblings included W(illiam) Pitt Barker (1845 – 17 February 1914) who married Jane Young on 26 May 1875; Mary Barker ( – 1890) who married Donald Maclean on 21 June 1866; Priscilla Barker (1853– ) who married Hermann von Rieben in 1892; and Alfred James Barker (1858–1923) who married Elizabeth Jean Bowman in 1896.