BARKER, John Charles
| Service Numbers: | 668, 144, 3251 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Highfields, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, 6 April 1871 |
| Home Town: | Ballandean, Southern Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Orchardist |
| Died: | 6 July 1952, aged 81 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Stanthorpe General Cemetery, Queensland Plot: Section 4, Row D, Grave 1 |
| Memorials: | Ballandean Sons of the Empire |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 668 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar 1900: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 144, 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 463 notes 3rd QMI embarked 1 Mar 1900 aboard Duke of Portland arriving Cape Town 2 Apr 1900. | |
| 1 Jul 1900: | Promoted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lance Corporal, 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 470, notes promoted to Lance Corporal. | |
| 21 Jun 1901: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lance Corporal, 144, 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 465 notes 3rd QMI embarked 9 May 1901 at Cape Town returning to Australia aboard Morayshire arriving Sydney 7 Jun 1901 (rail to Brisbane), disbanded 21 Jun 1901. | |
| 17 Aug 1901: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 668, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 506 & 518 notes part of the first draft that followed the original unit to South Africa. | |
| 18 Aug 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 668, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 506 notes first draft left Brisbane by rail 18 Aug 1901 to Sydney where embarked on 20 Aug 1901 on the Britannic arriving at Cape Town South Africa 22 Sept 1901. | |
| 23 Jun 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 668, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 508 notes 6th embarked at Durban 17 May 1902 aboard Devon arriving Brisbane 17 Jun 1902, disbanded 23 Jun 1902. |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3251, 9th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Seang Bee embarkation_ship_number: A48 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3251, 9th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Seang Bee, Brisbane | |
| 29 Feb 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 49th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Jul 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 49th Infantry Battalion | |
| 13 Feb 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 3251, 49th Infantry Battalion, Embarked from Plymouth 13 Feb 1917 aboard H.T. Ulysses for return to Australia arriving Melbourne 12 Apr 1917, discharged 29 May 1917. | |
| 29 May 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Corporal, 3251, 49th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour John Charles Barker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
John Charles Barker served twice in the South African (Boer) War, first as a Lance Corporal S.N. 144 in the 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, and second as a Private S.N. 668 in the 6th Queensland Bushmen. (source AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 470 and 519- see note bottom of page).
He would go on to serve again in WW1 as a Private S.N. 3251 in the 9th Infantry Battalion AIF. (source National Archives Australia WW1 service records).
Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey
John Charles Barker served twice in the South African (Boer) War and again in WW1. First service was as a Private rising to Lance Corporal S.N. 184, 3rd Queensland Mounted Infantry, Boer war. Second service was as a Private S.N. 668, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen (1st Draft), Boer war. Third service was as a Private rising to Corporal S.N. 3251, 9th and 49th Infantry Battalions AIF, WW1.
When he joined the 3rd QMI in 1900 and his details were published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 3 Mar 1900, it noted he was married and from Allsprings, Spring Bluff, Toowoomba. In the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 3rd QMI, Bk 1 p. 29, it is noted he directed part of his pay to Leslie Groom c/- J. B. Price, solicitor, Brisbane. He served the full tour of the 3rd QMI and was returned to and discharged in Brisbane on 20 Jun 1901.
Almost immediately he volunteered for the First Draft of the 6th QIB and embarked again for South Africa in Aug 1901. The members of the draft mainly consisted of men who had served in previous contingents in South Africa and were assembled as reinforcements for the 5th and 6th QIB contingents already in South Africa.
Men in the draft were not recorded in the original nominal roll for the 6th QIB, but he was recorded in the Boer War Service Paybooks of the 5th QIB (to which he was allotted), Bk 4 p. 104, where it is noted he directed part of his pay to his wife Clara Levenes Barker, Dragon St, Warwick.
The Brisbane Courier, 16 May 1902, notes when the 5th QIB embarked to return to Australia that, S.N. 668, Corporal John Barker, was discharged in South Africa on 26 Mar 1902 to take up employment there. The Boer War Service Paybooks do not indicate when he eventually returned to Australia.
He enlisted again in Brisbane in 1915 for WW1 and his Attestation Paper, dated 4 Aug 1915, notes that; he was born at Highfields, Queensland and was 44 years 4 months of age; he was married and a orchardist; his N.O.K. was wife Clara Levenus Barker, Ballandean, Qld; and he had previously served in the Boer war.
John Charles Barker was born on 6 Apr 1871 at Highfields via Toowoomba, Qld, a son to John Barker and Mary Barker (nee McGarry). He married Clara Levennes McGladrigan on 8 Jul 1891 in Queensland and they had 7 children. They first settled in the Warwick area where he took up farming. After returning from the Boer War they relocated to Ballandean, near Stanthorpe, where he established and orchard farm.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 470 & 519; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 3rd QMI, Bk 1 p. 29, and 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 104; National Archives Australia- WW1 service record; Obituary- The Warwick Daily News, 12 Jul 1952).
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