Architect and engineer, of Derry. William Barker, who is said to have come from an old Derry family, was born on 12 August 1851. He served an apprenticeship with the Derry builders GEORGE & GEORGE & amp; ROBERT A. FERGUSON ROBERT A. FERGUSON and subsequently practised as an architect and engineer in Derry. According to the biography in Ferguson, Rowan & Tracey, while he was 'still young' he was responsible for 'large undertakings in Omagh, Coleraine and other towns…had charge of the Corporation waterworks at Creggan and was associated with the layout of Foyle College grounds for building purposes.' The works which are noted in the Irish Builder all date from the 1890s.
Barker died on 30 May 1898; according to family tradition, he had been unconscious for six months following a fall from a horse. He left a widow, Mary, née McCracken (1860-1943) and three children, Mary Violet (1884-1941), Thomas McCurdy (1885-1967), future Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and William Alexander (1897-1965). He was buried in Derry City Cemetery, later joined by his wife and his son William Alexander.
Address: Orchard Street, Derry, 1885-1897.
See WORKS.
References
All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for was supplied by Barker's great-grandson William Warnock in e-mails to the IAA, 11 & 12 Jan 2004. There is a brief biography of Barker in W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan, J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings…in and near the City of Derry (UAHS, 1970), 61 (where he is wrongly named Baxter).
Barker's dates of birth and death are from his gravestone in Castlerock Presbyterian Burial Ground.
According to Shane McCurdy (e-mail of 9 May 2008), Thomas McCurdy Barker was a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, where he was being held as an internee.
Information from Shane McCurdy (e-mail, Feb 2009)
Derry Almanac for the years 1885-1897.
20 work entries listed in chronological order for BARKER, WILLIAM
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Building: |
CO. DERRY, LARGY (LIMAVADY), PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH |
Date: |
1882 |
Nature: |
Alterations and improvements, for Rev. J. Gallaugher.. Tenders invited, Jul 1882.
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Refs: |
Julia E. Mullin, The Presbytery of Limavady (Limavady: NortH-West Books, 1989), 111, citing Londonderry Standard, 25 Jul 1882.
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Building: |
CO. DERRY, DUNGIVEN, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH |
Date: |
1887 |
Nature: |
Extensive renovation including replacement of pews, windows, ceiling, addition of end gallery, underground stoves and minister's room at rear of church. Contractor: James Wray, Limavady.
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Refs: |
Julia E. Mullin, The Presbytery of Limavady (Limavady: North-West Books, 1989), 99.
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Building: |
CO. TYRONE, URNEY, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH |
Date: |
1888 |
Nature: |
New church. |
Refs: |
IB 30, 1 May 1888, 127; illus. in Laurence Kirkpatrick, Presbyterians in Ireland: an illustrated history (Booklink, 2006), 197.
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Building: |
CO. DERRY, FLORENCE TERRACE, NO. 10 |
Date: |
1890 |
Nature: |
- |
Refs: |
W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan, J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings…in and near the City of Derry (UAHS, 1970), 50
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Building: |
CO. DONEGAL, BUNCRANA, LOUGH SWILLY HOTEL |
Date: |
1892 |
Nature: |
Adds & alts. WB superintending architect. Builder: Ballantine, Derry. |
Refs: |
IB 34, 15 Mar 1892, 72; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 155
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Building: |
CO. DERRY, DERRY, LITTLE JAMES STREET, HOGG & MITCHELL SHIRT FACTORY |
Date: |
1897 |
Nature: |
To be erected. |
Refs: |
IB 39, 1 Mar 1897, 51; 41, ? ? 1899, 1; W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan, J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings…in and near the City of Derry (UAHS, 1970), 46
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Building: |
CO. DERRY, DERRY, EBRINGTON, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH |
Date: |
1897-99 |
Nature: |
Work (i.e. new church?); lecture hall completed after Barker's death by M.A. Robinson. (According to Fitzpatrick, congregation was formed in 1896).
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Refs: |
IB 39, 1 Apr 1897, 71; 41, 15 Nov 1899, 185; W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan, J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings…in and near the City of Derry (1970), 34; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 388; illus. in Laurence Kirkpatrick, Presbyterians in Ireland: an illustrated history (Booklink, 2006), 206.
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Building: |
CO. DONEGAL, LETTERKENNY, CASHELSHANAGAN, HOUSE |
Date: |
1898 |
Nature: |
Tenders invited for erecting new villa, for Capt. Frederick Thomas Verschoyle of Castle Troy, Co. Limerick |
Refs: |
Irish Times, 26 Jan 1898; IB 40, 1 Feb 1898, 20.
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