Brigadier-General Sir Robert Barker, 1st Baronet, FRS (1732 – 14 September 1789) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1774 to 1780. He served as

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

between 1770 and 1773.

Military career

Barker was the eldest son of Robert Barker M.D., of

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, and his wife Hannah Whitehead. He went to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1749 and in 1757, during the

, commanded the artillery at the Capture of Chandannagar and at the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company, under the leadership of Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and his French Indies Company, French allies on 23 June 1757. The victory was made possible by the de ...

.Sir Robert Barker at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In 1762 he went on an expedition to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was knighted on 16 January 1764. Two years later he returned to

to protect the Nawab wazir of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula. In 1769 he became

The Bengal almanac, for 1827, compiled by S. Smith and Co., Page XX
/ref> he became likewise provincial commander-in-chief in Bengal to the great disgust of Sir Richard Fletcher. However he exceeded his authority by committing the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

to guaranteeing a treaty and by confronting a possible

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

invasion. He resigned in 1773: Colonel Champion, who succeeded him, had to conduct the first Rohilla war. Barker returned to

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becoming member of parliament for Wallingford in 1774. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1775. In 1781 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Bushbridge in the County of Surrey. Barker's ability as an officer won him the friendship and esteem of Clive.

Family

In 1780 he married Anne Hallows: they had no children. They lived at Bushbridge near

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Works

Besides the ''Thermometrical Observations'' published by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, Barker also contributed ''Observations on a Voyage from Madras to England, 1774'', and ''The Process of Making Ice in the East Indies'' to volume lxv., and an ''Account of an Observatory of the Brahmins at Benares'' to volume lxvii. of the ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

''.

References

Attribution *; Endnotes: **There is a very short, incomplete notice of Sir Robert Barker in Major Stubbs's History of the Royal Bengal Artillery, 2 volulemes, 1877 **consult also Malcolm's Life of Clive, Gleig's Life of Warren Hastings, and Mill's History of India **for his services at Manila see Draper's despatch in the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1763, and for Kettle's paintings at his seat the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1786. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Robert 1732 births 1789 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British Commanders-in-Chief of India British MPs 1774–1780 British East India Company Army generals 401 Fellows of the Royal Society