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- Founded the town of Barberton, Eastern Transvaal, in 1884.
On the expedition to the Victoria Falls in 1875, was tossed by a buffalo. His brother nursed him for three months until he could be carried the 70 miles back to the wagon. Through this misfortune, he was unable to go to the Falls. On another hunting expedition he was badly mauled by a leopard. He was a remarkable rifle shot, and on one occasion won the Wimbledon Medal. After Barberton, the brothers were important pioneers on the Rand and were associated with many of the early gold mines. Immigrated to Kenya in 1912, where he was the first settler in the Trans-Nzoia, farming coffee.
From Familia, the Article on the Barbers of Barberton is written by Ivan MITFORD-BARBERTON. Here are some extracts.
"The founders of Barberton Fred and Harry BARBER.....the family came from Castleton in High Peak, the mountainous part of Northern Derbyshire, England, and can be traced back for twelve generations to Roger BARBAR who was Forester for the villages of Edale and Ashop and held the Forest Pleas about 1522 as recorded in the Manor Rolls of Castleton.
The earliest record is that of Richard LE BARBUR (the bearded) who was born in the reign of Henry III (about 1260). In 1283 Richard's wife Margaret sued John CARBONEL for her dower in Brocton, High Peak. Margaret was probably the daughter of this John CARBONEL and presumably had not received her wedding settlement and had to take the matter to law. Other records show that members of the Barber family paid yearly rent for farms or booths in High Peak.
When Henry V was fighting in France, Thomas BARBOUR (surgeon) and Roger BARBOUR were at the Battle of Agincourt in 1416. There was no fixed spelling in those days which changed with each generation.
Thomas BARBER (1771 - 1843) was a well-known portrait painter of Nottingham who exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and painted many of the aristocracy in the Midlands. He married Mary, daughter of Hugh and Anne ATHERSTONE. It was her brother, Dr. John ATHERSTONE who came out to South Africa with the 1820 Settlers.
Thomas BARBER, the painter, had several sons, but the two who came out to South Africa were Hugh and Frederick. Frederick was studying at Heidelburg University, Germany, with his cousin Dr. William Guybon ATHERSTONE and they came to South Africa in the same ship in 1839. The older brother, Hugh, came out the following year and it was his son, Hilton who founded the HILTON-BARBER family.
Frederic BARBER (1813 - 1892) married Mary Elizabeth (1818 - 1899) daughter of 1820 Settler Miles BOWKER of 'Tharfield'. She was a truly remarkable woman and South Africa has produced few to rival her with brush and pen and her knowledge of Botany, natural history and entomology was outstanding.
Frederick and Mary had two sons, Frederick Hugh (1847 - 1919) and Henry MITFORD BARBER (afterwards MITFORD-BARBERTON) 1850 - 1920. They were with their parents in the rush to the diamond fields in 1870...so became big game hunters. Harry was gored by a buffalo on the Gwaai River in 1876...Fred nursed his brother for three months. On another occasion Harry was mauled by a leopard - on his left shoulder, cheek and neck, leaving honourable scars of this adventure.
As early as 1875 Fred went on a hunting expedition to the Victoria Falls. They went on the Hunters Road through Bechuanaland via Pandamatenga, left the wagon and did the last sixty miles on foot. The brothers knew King Lobengula well, but were held hostage on one occasion when he was anticipating trouble which fortunately did not materialise.
After the founding of Barberton in 1884 the brothers went to the Rand where they held positions of importance, made and lost fortunes....emigrated to Kenya and were numbered among the pioneers and coffee planters. They were buried in Eldoret.
Fred BARBER married Eira EVANS and had one son, living in Nairobi (1964). He has no family. Henry MITFORD-BARBERTON married Mary Layard, daughter of Commandant Holden BOWKER, M.L.A. and had four sons: Ivan (Sculptor), Raymond, Renshaw and Alban. There are several grandchildren".
Extracted from "Men of the Times - Pioneers of the Transvaal and Glimpses of South Africa" The Transvaal Publishing Company 1905 Pgs. 62 & 63 - H.M. Barber Foremost amongst the great pioneers of the Rand, and a prominent personality in the historical annals of South Africa, is HENRY MILFORD BARBER, F.R.G.S. He is the second son of Frederick William Barber, and grandson of Thomas Barber, the famous artist, of Nottingham, England, and was born at Highlands, near Grahamstown, being educated by private tuition. In the year 1869, he proceeded with his family to Kimberley in quest of wealth from the newly discovered diamond mines. Success attended the diggers here and also on the New Rush or Colesberg Kopje, where they worked for several years. During the years 1873-74 Mr. Barber devoted his time to travelling and hunting, his range being within the Waterberg and Zoutpansberg districts, where big game was then plentiful. In 1870 he visited Matabeleland, and made the acquaintance of Lobengula. More hunting ensued, but, on his return, he was detained in Bulawayo as a hostage by Lobengula owing to the political intrigues of Mr. Frewim. The rush for gold at the De Kaap Mines brought Mr. Barber to that place prospecting, and his brother, who was with him, was the lucky discoverer of the first payable reef on Government ground. The event created an influx of diggers to the spot, which became known as "Barber's Camp," and, finally, as the place grew, it took the name of Barberton, after the brothers. The following year Mr. Barber again went prospecting, and one of his party discovered another reef, from which sprang the small mining village of Avoca. On the discovery of gold at Witwatersrand, Henry Barber took up his residence there, and, with the help of his brother, assisted materially in the flotation of several important companies. His thirst for adventure and strong roving propensities brought him into contact with much of the interior of South Africa, and afforded him a wide knowledge of the country and its advantages and defects. A keen sportsman, he has shot much big game, including seven lions, but his almost too fearless nature nearly led to a fatality by a tiger on the Sabi River, and he was once badly gored by a buffalo. Mr. Barber's career has been one of great adventure, being varied with hardships and bounded with much success; but through his whole life he has always shown that complete balance of body and soul which makes a man master of himself and all his actions. Fearless, self-reliant, scornful of all petty motives, and possessed of a bright and happy-go-lucky nature, "Hal Barber," as he is called, is a popular and greatly respected man. Wherever there was anything to lead, he was always well to the front, and by his cheery, whole-hearted manner, infused life and buoyancy in all around him. As a pioneer, his work for South Africa is unquestionably of immense profit, his connection with the goldfields being of unlimited importance, and he was instrumental in laying the foundation of much of the subsequent wealth of the country. Mr. Barber now lives at The Castle, Port Alfred, Cape Colony, and is married to a daughter of the late Thomas Holden Bowker, M.L.A., the founder of Queenstown and originator of the early Cathcart System of Frontier Defence.
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