John Barker, 1901-1970

Abstract

John Barker was born at Church End, Finchley, on 24 April 1901. His father was Dr Chesman Barker, a general practitioner who at one time hoped to become a surgeon; his great grandfather, Dr Elijah Barker was a second generation doctor. John Barker’s mother was Marguerite Emma Mellish, whose father was an organist with a great interest in science. John Barker’s school was Christ’s College, Finchley. He matriculated early after the 1914-18 war; he was a member of the O.T.C. and enjoyed sports. He left school in 1918 and spent the next year at Birkbeck College, obtaining a scholarship in 1919 to Trinity College, Cambridge. He lived on a staircase in New Court and some contemporaries came up with him from Christ’s College, Finchley, including Thomas Stiff and A. H. G. Palmer; these three and Kenworthy Scholfield were great friends and were notable and enthusiastic folk dancers, belonging to the Cambridge Morris Men. Thomas Stiff, a great friend of the family and one of John’s greatest friends in the early days at Trinity saw much of the family that included John’s sisters, Mary, Ruth and Jessie. John’s elder brother, Tom Barker, was a Royal Engineer trained to be a civil engineer at Woolwich Academy where he passed out First and was awarded the King’s Medal. His death towards the end of the 1914-18 war was a great loss to the Barker family. The retirement of Dr Chesman Barker and the loss of Tom Barker, greatly afflicted the family. Some of the activities that gave John special pleasure stemmed from his father’s interests in sailing and yachting. He greatly enjoyed sailing with friends on the south coast and on the Broads. He also owned a racing dinghy which was aptly named ‘Solanum’, the plant which figured in much of his scientific life. He was athletic, keen on games and with other members of the Botany School ran a successful hockey team.