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Collet Barker (1784–1831)

One of the numerous Friends of the late Captain Collet Barker has handed us the following, which we insert with pleasure.

A handsome and very appropriate memento has been erected to the memory of this brave and amiable, but unfortunate soldier, by the officers of his regiment, on the north side of St. James's Church, opposite that of Sir James Brisbane, and bearing the following inscription on a white marble slab

Sacred to the memory of
Captain Collett Barker,
of His Majesty's 39th Regiment of Foots,
who was treacherously murdered
by the Aboriginal natives,
on the 30th April, 1831,
while endeavouring,
in the performance of his duty
to ascertain the communication
between lake Alexandrina
and the Gulf of Vincent,
on the south-west coast of New Holland,
in token of esteem
for the singular worth,
and in affectionate remembrance
of the many virtues of the deceased.
This tablet is erected
by Colonel Lindesay
and his brother officers.

The Monument is surrounded by frieze, and with the inscription, reflects credit on the feelings and good taste of his companions in arms, while, like the character to whom it is sacred, it bears the stamp of intrinsic worth.

Our readers may recollect the melancholy circumstances attending the death of Captain Barker a few particulars we have obtained of his career, may not prove altogether uninteresting at this time.

Captain Barker entered the service in 1806, an Ensign in the 39th Regiment, and joined the 2nd Battallion in Malta, where he remained until that corps was ordered to the Peninsula; he was there actively employed with his regiment throughout the whole of those arduous and glorious campaigns, terminated by the victory of Thoulouse. In 1814, the 39th formed a part of the division of the army ordered to embark at Bordeaux, for America, where it was actively employed on the Canadian frontier. On the breaking out of hostilities in 1815, it returned to Europe, but did not arrive till after the battle of Waterloo. Captain B. remained in France, his regiment forming part of the Army of Occupation till 1818. In 1825, after 19 years active service as a Subaltern, he was obliged to purchase his Company. He arrived in this Colony in Aug. 1828, and three weeks afterwards was ordered to take the command of the settlement at Raffles Bay; there, Captain Barker, by his mild and conciliating conduct, opened a friendly intercourse with the natives, a measure which had baffled the attempts of two former Commandants. On the breaking up of this settlement in 1829, in consequence of orders from Home, Captain B. was removed to King George's Sound. The removal was felt as a severe disappointment by Captain Barker. The object of establishing a station on our northern coast, had been to open a friendly communication with the Malays; and immediately on his having accomplished this object, and while in anxious expectation of remaining to witness the advantages consequent on a commercial intercourse with those people, Governor Darling abandoned the project. At King George's Sound, Captain B. remained 16 months, when that settlement was handed over to the Swan River Government. In returning, he was directed by the Government to complete the survey of the outlet of Lake Alexandrina, discovered the year previously by Captain Sturt and it was in the execution of this duty, at the moment he attained the abjoct of his mission, that he fell the victim of his zeal and assiduity; being murdered by the natives in an excursion which, unhappily, he made alone.

Among the many amiable traits of Captain B's character, may be instanced his generous conduct to his widowed sister and her orphan family, to whose welfare he sacrificed every consideration for himself, and who in him have lost a father.

It may be a source of some consolation to those, and other of his relatives, to know that his character is appreciated and his virtues recorded in the land which terminated his honourable career; and though no stone marks the place of his final rest, yet, the memento to his worth erected in St. James's Church, will not suffer his name to be forgotten in a land where many of his comrades will reside, and among whom his many virtues will be cherished, so long as memory performs its office.

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Citation details

'Barker, Collet (1784–1831)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/barker-collet-1740/text25326, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

31 December, 1784
London, Middlesex, England

Death

30 April, 1831 (aged 46)
Encounter Bay, South Australia, Australia

Cause of Death

spear wounds

Cultural Heritage

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Occupation
Military Service
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