Jilly's Genealogy

     The passing of Mr William Cobbet Barker last Saturday will leave vacancies on several public bodies where his presence will be greatly missed. Level-headed and public-spirited for thirty years or more he has been one of the most prominent public men in the area. In his Liberal sympathies and early membership of the local Liberal Party, he followed in the footsteps of both his father and his mother, who were keen and active members of the Party. Mr Barker, however, always maintained an individual and independent line and never minced words of criticism when he felt the occasion demanded them. One of his chief characteristics was his determination to keep himself, well informed on local affairs generally and local government in particular. This very characteristic led him to be one of the first advocates of amalgamation of the three Towns. The bodies to which he belonged will find it difficult to appoint a successor of the same calibre.

Mr William Cobbett Barker, Justice of the Peace, former County Alderman, educationalist and one of the best known public men of the district, died at his home, Luddesdown Court, near Cobham, on Saturday morning at the age of 72.                                                                                      Over two months ago he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital, Rochester, following a heart attack, and had only returned to his residence just over a week.                                                             His father, the late Mr W C Barker, of Bryant House, Strood, owned the foundry in Gun Lane, and he followed in this business, keeping the foundry going until the beginning of this war. Father and son also farmed together at Luddesdown about the time of the last war.                                   It was in 1913 that Mr Barker took the first major step into public life, when he was elected to the Kent County Council. He remained a Councillor until 1928, and followed this by a period of six years as a County Council Alderman.                                                                                          In June of the same year began his long interest in educational administration, when he became a member of the local Higher Education Committee. Six years later the Committee became the Medway Education Board, and Mr Cobbett Barker was one of the founder members of that Board, retaining his membership until his death.                                                                          This same interest in education led to his appointment to Rochester Education Committee in 1914, and he served on that Committee for 28 years. In 1932 he was made Chairman of the Board of Governors of both the County School for Boys, Gillingham, and Chatham County School for Girls, and he was also a Governor of the Swanley Horticltural College.                                               One of Mr Barker's chief interests was his work as a Justice of the Peace, which he commenced in 1918, when he was appointed as a Justice of the North Aylesford Petty Sessional Division. He sat regularly on the Chatham Bench, was for some years vice-chairman, and only last year was elected as deputy chairman.                                                                                                                     In September, 1938, he was elected to the Strood Rural District Council as representative for the Parish of Luddesdown and, when the war came, became Vice-chairman of the Rural District Food Control Committee.                                                                                                             Keenly interested in the history of Rochester and the surrounding area, he was for long a member of the Rochester Dickens Fellowship, and was its chairman at the time of his death. This same bent led him to take a great interest in Temple Manor, and he was one of those who advocated not long before the war that the City Council should take it over for preservation.                                       In his own home, this antiquarian interest found plenty to occupy it. Luddesdown Court, which dates from Saxon times, is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in the country, and it is recorded in the Domesday Book that the manor was held by Earl Lewin in the time of Edward the Confessor. Mr Barker undertook a considerable amount of restoration work to the Court. There is no family, and Mr Barker is survived only by his wife, formerly a Miss Emily Eaton, who is well-known for her work in connection with the aftercare of tuberclosis patients.

The funeral took place at Strood Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon, preceded by a service in Strood Parish Church conducted by the Rev. D L Band, Vicar of St Mary's, Strood, in the unavoidable absence through illness of Canon W H MacKean.                                                       The private mourners were the widow, Mr and Mrs Robson, Mr and Mrs A L Reeve, Mr A A Durling, and Mr F Skilton.                                                                                                          Strood District Council was represented by Messrs J W Pye (Chairman), J C Holm (Vice-chairman), and Ivo T Lingham, the Rev F L Uppleby, the Clerk, Mr A E Stroud (who also represented the Kent branch of the Rural District Councils' Association), Mr H O Wood (Assistant Clerk), and Mr W Stimpson (Architect).                                                                                   Justices of the North Aylesford Division present were Ald. Mrs B J Parr, Mrs H E Midghall, Mr J Bray, Mr F C Lawrence, Mrs B Grieveson, and Mr W J Bliss, with Mr E F Barrett (Clerk) and Mrs Barrett.                                                                                                                        Schools of the district were represented as follow:- Rochester Mathematical, Ald. F C A Matthews and Mrs H G L King (Governors), the Headmaster, Mr K R Imeson, and the Head Boy, M H Robinson; Rochester Grammar School for Girls, the Headmistress, Miss M Butterfield, and Miss E H B Main, and the Head Girl, Elizabeth Sleigh; the Clerk to the Governors, Mr G Bell; the Gillingham County School for Boys, the Headmaster, Mr S J Dale, and Mrs Dale; the Chatham County School for Girls, the Headmistress, Miss M E Mitchell, Linda Stride (Prefect), and Mrs E M Mitchener (Old Girls' Association); and Mr P S Taylor, District Education Officer (and representing Ald. Rolfe Nottidge, Chairman of the Kent Education Committee).                          Representing the Rochester branch of the Dickens Fellowship were Mr H Smetham (President), Miss A Butler (Secretary), Mrs R E Rigg (representing her husband who is Vice-chairman of the branch), Mr W Glanville mason (Dickens Fellowship Headquarters and Uncommercial Travellers), Miss Grace Edmonds and Mr A C Holliday.                                                                         Others present were: the Dean of Rochester, the Very Rev T Crick anf Mrs Crick; Mrs W H Mackean; Ald. Miss E J Wigan; Ald. H J Cloake (Deputy Mayor of Chatham); the Town Clerk of Rochester (Mr J L Percival). who also represented the Mayor. Councillor C S Knight, Councillor H Baxter, Mrs F C A Matthews, Mr H J L King; Mr R C Wood (former Secretary of the Rochester branch of the Kent Farmers' Union); Mr W J Hurdman (Vice-chairman of the Medway Guardians' Committee) and Mrs Hurdman; Mr T Roberts (Chairman of the Medway Education Board); Mrs A J Price; Mr F L Philip; Mr H Cooper (representing Mr W L Platts, Clerk of the KCC); Mr W H Stratton; Mr G Jenner; Mr F J Watt (Lloyds Bank, Rochester); Mr J H Evenden; Miss F Percival; Mr H F Wingent (Temple Manor); Mr H A Young; Maj. P T Rogers; and Mr H G Couchman (Editor of "The News").                                                                                     Supt. H R Webb, Insp. H R Springett, P-Sgt. Beech and Pc George represented the KCC and Mr C B Trusler the Probation Officers.                                                                                       Mr F L Naylar, of W Naylar and Son, undertakers, High Street, Rochester, had charge of the funeral arrangements.

Paying a tribute to Mr Cobbett Barker at the Chatham Magistrates' Court, on Monday, the Chairman (Mr G C Swain), who was accompanied on the Bench by Messrs A M Davenport, A G Baker and S J Price, said that his late colleague and deputy-chairman had always tried to do what was right and just as a magistrate. They deeply regretted his passing and they would miss him very much, as would the local bodies with which he had been associated for many years.                 Associating himself with the Chairman's remarks, the Justices' Clerk (Mr E F Barrett) referred to Mr Cobbett Barker's regular attendance at Court as chairman of the Friday Bench, and said that no-one could have been keener on his work as a magistrate than he. He was also most considerate to the Police Court staff. They felt that in him they had lost a friend as well as a magistrate.           Mr J Williams, on behalf of the local solicitors, said that Mr Cobbett Barker was one of the most familiar figures at that Court, and no-one who came before him could ever say that he did not give the keenest attention to the case he was hearing, or indeed to all matters connected with the Court procedure.                                                                                                                             Chief Inspector S Redsell expressed his condolences on behalf of the police.

Members of the Medway Education Board stood in silence at their meeting on Monday as a mark of respect to Mr Barker, after several members had paid tribute to his work for education.         The Chairman, Mr T Roberts, said he was quite sure the Board would find it difficult to find another man in the Towns who would show such an interest in the Board's proceedings. Mr Barker had many interests in the district, but none was more close to his heart than the question of education. He would have liked Mr Barker to see the Board's term of existence out and the new Education Act com in, but that was not to be. Mr Barker was wise in his counsel, and though they had not always agreed with him they had always found he had a reason for anything he said. They would miss him very much.                                                                                                         Mr Roberts' remarks were endorsed by Ald. J J Knight and Mrs N McLellan.

In a letter to the Editor, a correspondent, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, writes:-    "The lamented death of Mr W Cobbett Barker will come as a great shock to a widespread circle of friends, and especially those who, like the writer, have been his quests on many happy occasions at his home at Luddesdown Court. For a decade before the war each week-end would find a party of quests being entertained in the historic old house by its charming and genial owner; many societies, clubs and axxociations will remember with gratitude Saturday excursions to Luddesdown, where they would receive kindly hospitality and full information about one of the oldest inhabited houses in the country. Casual visitors were always invited in to view the house, and received the full benefit of Mr Barker's great store of knowledge concerning the history of this and other ancient houses, the whole being imparted with that charm and geniality which we shall always associate with his name.                                                                                                             "As a slight tribute to my dear old friend I am enclosing a sonnet, written earlier this year, and with which Mr Cobbett Barker was delighted; it has struck me that you might like to publish it in honour of a great citizen of the County and of the Strood district."

A familiar figure in local public life has passed away by the death of Mr W Cobbett Barker.        Born of Kentish stock with a strong trace of Yorkshire and Scotch descent, gave the strength of character he always showed in his actions. His father was a self-made man with strong opinions on most subjects, and his mother was one of the earliest women in this neighbourhood to take up public service on the Board of Guardians.                                                                                    W Cobbett Barker first attended a private school at Mr Hearn's, in Gun Lane, Strood, afterwards going to Sir J Williamson's Mathematical School, at Rochester, where he sat under the late Mr Charles Bird, whose teaching imbued him with a strong sense of the value of education. On leaving school he was apprenticed to his father's business as a brass moulder, and afterwards went to Lancashire, where he started a brass foundry on his own account. His north country experience also helped to strengthen his judgment and self-confidence.                                                          After his marriage he returned to Strood to take over his father's business. He had already served on the Strood Board of Guardians, and he decided to contest the seat for the County Council, for which the local Liberal Party had decided to nominate the late Mr Craske. Mr Barker fought as an Independent and won with a comfortable majority. His re-election was unopposed for 12 years. During these years he served unsparingly, and was always ready to take a strong stand for any principle he had sponsored. His courage was proverbial, and he was "a bonny fighter." The late Mr A E Price decided to oppose his re-election to the County Council, but was defeated by a two to one majority.                                                                                                                          About this time Mr Barker farmed his Luddesdown estate, but gave unstintingly of his time on many committees with the Kent Education Committee as his favourite work. He was rewarded by the conferring of an Aldermancy by the members of the Council and his Councillor's seat was taken by the late Mr H E Ayling.                                                                                                          On subsequent occasion, however, some members of the County Council exercised their undoubted right to nominate another candidate when his Aldermancy was due for renewal. His unseating by this body was to be regretted, as it reversed the verdict of the local electorate and left Mr Barker neither a Councillor nor an Alderman.                                                                        He did not sulk in his tent however.  The Medway Education Committee, the Mathematical and Grammar School Governors, the Magistrates' Bench at Chatham and later the Strood District Council, all shared in his public-spirited work. Mr Barker often spoke appreciatively of the kindness extended to him by the members of this Council. He retired to live at Luddesdown Court a few years ago, and was particularly anxious to return there on leaving St Bart's Hospital in his last illness.                                                                                                                                         W Cobbett Barker was an ardent naturalist, an antiquarian of no mean knowledge, and a keen Dickensian. He was one of the earliest to preach the now popular gospel of Amalgamation of the Medway Towns, and was always ready to give addresses on this and other subjects dear to him or use his pen to further their progress.                                                                                            His courage and energy was known and appreciated by his friends, and his opponents also felt his keen thrusts in debate.                                                                                                           Taken altogether it may be said that William Cobbett Barker lived a full life, was on the side of the poor and oppressed, and nothing was too much trouble once his interest was aroused in a cause. His passing is at once a loss and his life an example to those whose unselfish service is given freely to the cause of democratic government.                                                                                                                                        H A T

A further tribute to the late Mr W Cobbett Barker, deputy chairman of the North Aylesford Justices, was paid by Alderman Mrs B J Parr presiding at Chatham Magistrates' Court on Friday. The magistrates sitting that day, she said, felt they would like to express their regret, as for a great number of years Mr Barker had sat regularly on Fridays and carried out his duties In a very satisfactory manner. They were very sorry indeed to lose such a valuable man.                           The Clerk (Mr E F Barrett) said Mr Barker was an excellent example of the lay magistrate bringing to bear a common-sense attitude and an original outlook on the very complicated legal regulations the Court had to interpret.                                                                                                          Mr P T Baker (solicitor) described Mr Barker as a most valuable man, who devoted himself almost entirely to public work.                                                                                                  Supt H R Webb associated himself with these remarks on behalf of the Police.

Tribute to the late Mr Cobbett Barker was also paid at the monthly meeting of Strood Rural District Council on Friday last.                                                                                                   The Chairman (Mr J W Pye) said he must refer to the loss the Council Had sustained by the death of Mr Cobbett Barker, who had been a member for six years. With his County Council experience he came to them with a great knowledge of public work and local government. He was full of knowledge, his interests were wide and he spent the greater part of his time for many years in various forms of public service. On that Council they were going to miss his help, and his absence would create a gap which it would be difficult to fill.                                                         Associating himself with the Chairman's remarks, the Clerk to the Council (Mr A E Stroud), said on behalf of the staff he thoroughly endorsed what the Chairman had said. He personally felt he had lost a very great friend. Mr Cobbett Barker was always an inspiration with his genial kindness and broad human sympathy. The district had been enriched by his life and work.