| Notes |
- Dug for diamonds with his father and brother in Kimberley, 1871. His journals of an expedition to the Victoria falls in 1875 and another to Matebeleland in 1877-8 have been published by the Rhodes Livingstone Museum, under the title 'Zambezia and Matabeleland in the Seventies'. This trip was made by ox-wagon through Bechuanaland via the Makarikari Pan to Pandematenga where, owing to tsetse fly, they left the wagon and completed the remaing 60 miles on foot. Fred was a painter of landscapes and antelopes. With his brother was a co-founder of the town of Barberton in Transvaal in 1884. Immigrated to Kenya and is buried at Eldoret.
quoted from Men of our Times 1905.
'Frederick Hugh Barber, who ranks with his brother, H.M. Barber, as one of the pioneers of South African history, is the son of F.W. Barber, Esq., a geologist and scientific farmer of the district of Grahamstown. His mother was the daughter of Miles Bowker (one of the British Settlers of 1820, an authoress, scientist, naturalist and artist of great fame. Born at Grahamstown, Mr. F.H. Barber grew up on his parents' farm, and was educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. After leaving college, he launched out into various pursuits and enterprises, and his career has been one of singular experience and marked with considerable success. In 1870 he started on an exploring tour with a view to prospecting, and travelled to the Vaal River, pegging and working claims on nearly all the river diggings. He and his brother pegged and worked original claims on De Beers, Du Toits Pan, Bultfontein, and Kimberley. In 1872 he joined the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police under Sir Walter Currie as sub-inspector, and on retiring from the force three years later was presented with a handsome testimonial to his troop. In 1875 he started from Kimberley in a bullock wagon to visit the Victoria Falls and shoot big game. His love of sport took him through Matabeleland in 1877. Ten years spent in a bullock wagon, hunting, travelling and prospecting, brought him in contact with nearly every country south of the Zambezi, including Bamangwatoland,Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Bechuanaland, Manicaland, Gazaland, the Kalihari Desert, German West Africa, Zululand, Swaziland, Basutoland, the Transkei, and the Portuguese south coast colonies. He became a great friend of the chief Khama, and spent three months on a friendly visit to Lobengula in 1878. In 1879 he returned and worked claims on the Kimberley mine, and the following year we find him actively engaged in ostrich and cattle farming in Albany. The goldfields of North-eastern Transvaal next attracted his attention, and with his brother, H.M. Barber, and cousin Graham H. Barber, he plunged into the speculative and venturous career consistent with the life of a miner and digger. Their efforts were successful, and as a witness of the result of their labours, "Barberton" named after the brothers, rose into existence and fame. In 1886 Mr. Fred H. Barber proceeded to the Witwatersrand goldfields and settled in Ferreira's Camp (now Johannesburg), where he floated almost the first company on the Rand, the "Ferreira", with a capital of twelve thousand pounds. Before floating the company, he sank on the claims the first shaft on the Rand to a depth of 50 feet, thereby proving the permanency of the reef, and crushed 100 tons of ore at Struben's mill, which yielded over 1 oz. to the ton over the plates, the ore being carried by bullock wagon for nine miles. He floated the Simmer and Jack Company, and acted as director and promoter of some of the principal companies on the Rand, including the Jumpers, Aurora, Spes Bona, Kleinfontein, Princess and Nigel Deep. He was also associated with the flotation of the Transvaal and Delagoa Bay Investment Company and the Johannesburg Board of Executors, in both of which he was one of the directors. Mr. Barber is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and is on the Committees of the Grahamstown Museum, Art Society, and Botanical Gardens; and a J.P. of Albany. He was late chairman of the Board of Works, Municipal Council, Grahamstown. He belongs to the following clubs : Rand and Pioneer, Johannesburg; Albany and Grahamstown Clubs, Grahamstown; and the City Club, Cape Town. In 1809 Mr. Barber married Miss F.R. Evans, daughter of the late J.B. Evans of Rietfontein,Graaff Reinet, who introduced the Angora goat into South Africa. In reviewing Mr. Barber's interesting and varied career it is impossible to do him the justice he merits from want of space. Our brief summary of his important and useful life has been little short of cataloguing the main events of his career. His life has been many-sided, comprising as it does that of farmer, frontier policeman, explorer, hunter, miner, prospector and speculator. His expeditions have extended into almost every remote part of Central South Africa and the colonies, while on the Continent they have included nearly every country in Europe, besides visiting Egypt and travelling up the Nile. A man of culture and refinement that in no way have deteriorated from the rougher influences of life, he figures prominently among the leading men who have aided in the promotion and extension of South African interests. His enthusiasm and love of sport, natural history, and enterprise is characterised by self-restraint, probably due to his excellent home training. Throughout his career he has shown a singular recognition of the higher ideals of life. '
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1848 - 1919 (71 years)
Settler Photos
1818 - 1899 (81 years)
