Thread: Who is the real L.S.Barker ?

Hi,

Thought I would contribute a bit of analysis to this.
Found a couple of biographies of the McPhersons. The second for W.E. is instructive as it gives some background to the expansive nature of the company in the period 1930-1950.
Biography - Sir William Murray McPherson - Australian Dictionary of Biography
Biography - William Edward McPherson - Australian Dictionary of Biography

There are a couple of interesting newspaper items on Trove (Aust digital archives)

The first from 21st June 1930, is about the opening of a box making company set up in Mt Gambier with L. S. Barker in attendance as the are using his machines.
21 Jun 1930 - BOX MAKING FACTORY. Valuable New Industry. Melbo...

The second is a couple of job ads from the Argus 13 Feb 1954
13 Feb 1954 - Advertising

TURNERS, FITTERS, MACHIN-
ISTS-Here is your opportunity
to work In the machine tool indus-
try. We have vacancies now. Apply
Mr. Cardwell. MCPHERSON'S LTD.,
Machine Tool Works, 302 Macaulay
Road, Kensington. FF1281.


TURNERS, registered, for turret
and engine lathes; £15/7/,
plus- bonuses. Overtime available.
L. S. Barker Pty. Ltd., Willis st.,
Nth Melb



Lastly are the ASIC records for L. S. Barker Pty Ltd and L. S. Barker Sales Pty Ltd
https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/Re...te=v9ltn3jzl_4


https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/Re...e=v9ltn3jzl_24

Hiroller,

following your lead with Trove, I found this article in the Deaths 13th December 1947 The Argus

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/arti...&searchLimits=

It has 2 listings under deaths for Barker:

BARKER. —On December 12 (suddenly), at stradbroke road, Montrose, Sydney Barker,
loved husband of Margaret, and father of
Lee, aged 55 years.


BARKER. —A tribute to the memory of our
late employer, L. S. Barker. (Inserted
by employees, Willis street, North Mel-
bourne.)

I had to look twice when I saw this, firstly it shows L.S. Barker were located at Willis St North Melbourne in 1947, secondly assuming the two Barkers listed are one and the same (which obviously is a fair assumption), it gives some really good details about who the owner was and unless I am reading it wrong he was Sydney Barker (assuming it is not Montrose Sydney, but stradbroke rd Montrose comes up as Victoria, and it would make no sense for him to live in Sydney)

Cheers,

Camo

Further information on Sydney Barker:

24 Dec 1947 - Advertising

LOT SYDNEY FORBES BARKER. Late of
Stradbroke Road, Montrose, Engineer. De-
ceased.-After fourteen clear days Margaret
Elizabeth Barker, of Stradbroke road, Mon-
trose, widow, the executrix appointed by de-
ceased's will, dated the 14th May. 1947,
will APPLY to the Supreme Court for a
grant of PROBATE of the said WILL.
GORDON RENNICK, LL.B., solicitor, 339
Collins street, Melbourne. _

Did two barkers pass away, or is this the same Barker, but then why L.S. if he is Sydney Forbes, it says Sydney Forbes was an Engineer?

Adds another dimension to Matty's title "who is the real L.S.Barker"

cheers,

Camo

Same guy. It seems his first name is actually "Lot"!

First World War Embarkation Roll - Lot Sydney Forbes Barker | Australian War Memorial
Lot Sydney Forbes Barker - Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 - Ancestry.com.au

His wife might have called him Sydney but he was probably known as LS at work.

Originally Posted by hiroller

Same guy. It seems his first name is actually "Lot"!

First World War Embarkation Roll - Lot Sydney Forbes Barker | Australian War Memorial
Lot Sydney Forbes Barker - Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 - Ancestry.com.au

His wife might have called him Sydney but he was probably known as LS at work.

Now it makes sense. I had in my head "Lot" as in say "Auction Lot", I was going to use the excuse it was nearly 1am, but your post is nearly 3am.

OK so now we know that L.S. Barker was:

Name: Lot Sydney Forbes Barker (May also show up as Sydney Barker, or L.S. Barker, depending on who is referring to him)
Born: 1892 Died: 12th December 1947 aged 55
Married to: Margaret Elizabeth Barker
Father of: Lee Barker
Address at time of death: Stradbroke Road, Montrose
Served in WW1

I don't have an ancesty account so that is as far as I have been. The important thing is now we know enough of his details to link him to the company records, or possibly leasing records, building purchases, council approvals, sale of business, etc. etc.

Well Matty,

We had to think outside the square, but we have a comprehensive answer to your question "who is the real L.S. Barker". Perhaps in the future you will be more specific with your headings.

Cheers,

Camo

Hiroller and Camo, you Guys are incredible !!
This is way more than I have ever seen on L.S.Barker.
It definitely paints a picture and establishes a time line, which is just amazing.
Guys I can't thank you enough, I know this kind of information takes hours of looking/ searching. I'm going to take it all in now, carefully !!
Many thanks !!!!
Melbourne Matty.

You fellas are up there with the "New Tricks" Team. Delving deep into archives and coming up with pieces of information!!! Its interesting that working backwards, so to speak, you can track someone.

I had a little examination of my 50's model 12" Jointer the other day. It shows a bras plate bearing "McPherson" Melbourne as well as brass plates displaying asset numbers because it was once used by the Public Works Department. It does look a lot like those photographed previously, but how much style can you put into a jointer to make it look different.

I have a 12" Jeffwood thicknesser set up next to the Jointer, They can talk about old times when the lights go out

Originally Posted by chambezio

I have a 12" Jeffwood thicknesser set up next to the Jointer, They can talk about old times when the lights go out

Set up some mood lighting and music and you might get a really nice combo jointer/thicknesser

It is a bit of a who done it.
We also know the company L.S Barker Pty Limited was established 11/03/1947 but he was making and selling equipment under his name in 1930.
He enlisted to WW1 in 1916 as a gunner at the age of 24 and his occupation was listed as engineer. His address at the time of enlisting was Wallace St, Preston.
I think we should be able find a bit more in Trove with a bit more searching.
Stay tuned.
It would be good to understand who ran the business after his death.

Originally Posted by hiroller

It is a bit of a who done it.
We also know the company L.S Barker Pty Limited was established 11/03/1947 but he was making and selling equipment under his name in 1930.
He enlisted to WW1 in 1916 as a gunner at the age of 24 and his occupation was listed as engineer. His address at the time of enlisting was Wallace St, Preston.
I think we should be able find a bit more in Trove with a bit more searching.
Stay tuned.
It would be good to understand who ran the business after his death.

Some more on his war enlistment:

Enlistment papers (8/11/1916)

image.jpg

Service number:33251
Place of birth:Kilmore Vic
Age on 8/11/1916 (23yrs 10mths
also shows the unit and his signature

cheers,

camo

Originally Posted by camoz

I found this article in the Deaths 13th December 1947 The Argus

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/arti...&searchLimits=

Originally missed the funeral notice:

FUNERAL NOTICES
BARKER.-The Funeral of the late Mr.
LOT SYDNEY FORBES BARKER Will
leave the Croydon Presbyterian Church
THIS DAY (Saturday), at the conclu-
sion of a service commencing at 9.15
a.m., for the Springvale Crematorium.

Hey all,

Thought I might try to get some detail about the north melbourne location (the newspaper article regarding his death stated "by employees, Willis street, North Melbourne), so I thought perhaps some searching might pinpoint the address, this might help later with determining when the sight was moved. Pinpointing the location of the Hiedleburg address may be helpful too. So my question is, do we know what the actual address at Hiedleburg was, and what is the actual suburb for Willis street North Melbourne? I have looked using google maps for Willis street melbourne, but if anything it is south of Melbourne. There are a few Willis streets north of melbourne, but I think this is a question for the locals.

I also noticed that L.S. Barker Pty Ltd shows up as currently under SKINNER ENGINEERING PTY. LTD., I wonder if Chase Skinner of Rennicks has any association or family involvement?


Go to this page: ASIC Company / Business Search Results | D&B Express ®
and if you click on the 2 companies it shows more details, including phone and fax numbers for Skinner Engineering Pty Ltd and a phone number for William Jacks (Australia) Pty Ltd, formally L.S. Barker Sales Pty Ltd. I wonder if the numbers are current, and if someone at the other end would know some history?

Cheers,

camo

There is currently no Willis St, Nth Melb, but it may have been rezoned. Most likely candidate would be

Willis St, Kensington VIC 3031

Originally Posted by DSEL74

There is currently no Willis St, Nth Melb, but it may have been rezoned. Most likely candidate would be

Willis St, Kensington VIC 3031

You Guys have just blown my sox of with all this incredible material you have discovered, I'm still digesting it all.
I hope to pop up a bit of a time line of what we know so far, soon just to tie all the information in !

Dale, its interesting you should say that because McPherson Machine Tool Works were located in 392 Macaulay Road , Kensington, where Macson Metal lathes were made here in Melbourne, at some stage in the 1940's I believe that the manufacturing batten was passed onto L.S.Barker and became Barker/Macson and then later L.S.Barker,
So there was a transition stage where Barker perhaps took over all the patterns and tooling for the Macson woodworking range and redesigned the machinery as it suited them, (this can be seen in examples of the late 1930's Macson Thicknesser, the 1940's Barker machine is very similar) and put their own mark on them so to speak, I am not sure wether barkers own line of machines were dropped all together after the McPhersons agreement for Barker to manufacture.

And still, so much more to discover !
Thank you again every one, this for me has been one of the most exciting posts !!

Melbourne Matty.