George Digby Barker

Barker was commissioned into the 78th Regiment of Foot in 1853.{{London Gazette|issue=21404|page=164|date=21 January 1853}} He served in Anglo-Persian War of 1856 and in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and was present at Siege of Lucknow.[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-charles-fox-davies/armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-hci/page-23-armorial-families--a-directory-of-gentlemen-of-coat-armour-hci.shtml Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour]

He went on to become adjutant of his regiment in 1859.{{London Gazette|issue=22222|page=262|date=25 January 1859}} He was then made assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general in 1884.{{London Gazette|issue=25402|page=4373|date=7 October 1884}} Then in 1874 he was made a Professor at the Staff College{{London Gazette|issue=24090|page=2297|date=28 April 1874}} and in 1877 Assistant Director of Military Education at Headquarters.{{London Gazette|issue=24477|page=3899|date=29 June 1877}}

He became Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1890.{{London Gazette|issue=26044|page=2339|date=22 April 1890}} Under his command, the size of the garrison increased by 50 per cent in response to Governor Des Voeux's concerns about the defence of the colony.{{cite book |last1=Holdsworth |first1=Mary |last2=Munn |first2=Christopher |title=Dictionary of Hong Kong biography |date=2012 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789888083664 |page=18 |url=https://hkupress.hku.hk/pro/525.php}}

Barker was briefly the acting administrator of Hong Kong between May and December 1891.[http://www.sartonchair.ugent.be/nl/sarton/biografie Sarton Chair] Upon Sir William Robinson's arrival to serve as Governor in December 1891, Barker recommended an extension of Hong Kong's northern frontier. The proposed new frontier would extend from Deep Bay to Mirs Bay, and encompass offshore islands within three miles of Hong Kong. This new frontier would eventually be realised in the 1898 Second Convention of Peking in which Britain leased the New Territories.

Barker was then appointed Governor and General Officer Commanding of the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, with its large garrison, in 1896{{London Gazette|issue=26732|page=2388| date=21 April 1896}} and retired in 1902.{{London Gazette|issue=27417|page=1885|date=18 March 1902}}

He was colonel of the North Staffordshire Regiment from 1905 to 1911 and of the Seaforth Highlanders from 1911 to 1914.{{London Gazette|issue=28530|page=6731|date=12 September 1911}}

In retirement he lived at Clare Priory in Suffolk.[http://www.clare-uk.com/Hatton_Book/Clare_Book_III.pdf Clare Suffolk Book III Clare Priory]

Barker Road, where the Residence of the Chief Secretary is located (Victoria House – 15 Barker Road), on The Peak was named after him.{{cite book |title= Signs of a Colonial Era|last1= Yanne|first1=Andrew|last2= Heller|first2= Gillis|year= 2009|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|page= 58|isbn= 978-962-209-944-9}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.china-travel-golden-route.com/the_Peak_of_Hong_Kong.html |title=The Peak of Hong Kong |access-date=3 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409075518/http://www.china-travel-golden-route.com/the_Peak_of_Hong_Kong.html |archive-date=9 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Barker married twice. In 1862 he married Frances Isabella Murray, daughter of George Murray, of Rosemount, Ross-shire. She died in 1900. They had a son and two daughters. One of their daughters, Helena Barker, married in 1891 Francis Henry May, who would become Governor of Hong Kong from 1912 to 1919. The Helena May Institute was named after her.{{cite book |title= Signs of a Colonial Era|last1= Yanne|first1=Andrew|last2= Heller|first2= Gillis|year= 2009|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|pages= 62–63|isbn= 978-962-209-944-9}}

General Barker remarried on 30 September 1902 Katherine Weston Elwes, daughter of Edward Golding Elwes, of London.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Marriages|date=2 October 1902 |page=1 |issue=36888| }}

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{{succession box | before=Sir James Edwards | title=Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong | years=1890–1895 | after=Sir Wilsone Black}}

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{{succession box | before = Sir William Des Vœux| title = Administrator of Hong Kong| years = May 1891 – December 1891 | after =William Robinson}}

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Category:1833 births

Category:1914 deaths

Category:Academics of the Staff College, Camberley

Category:Governors of Hong Kong

Category:Governors of Bermuda

Category:Commanders of Hong Kong

Category:British Army generals

Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:78th Highlanders officers

Category:British military personnel of the Anglo-Persian War

Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857

Category:Military personnel from Suffolk

Category:People from Clare, Suffolk

Category:19th-century British Army personnel

Category:20th-century British Army personnel