Henry Barkly

Born in 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of Æneas Barkly, a West India merchant. He was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham, where the school's particular curriculum endowed him with a lifetime interest in science and statistics.[1]

Upon completing his schooling and studies in commerce, Barkly worked for his father. The Barkly family had several connections with the West Indies: Barkly's mother, Susannah Louisa, whose maiden name was ffrith, was the daughter of a Jamaica planter; his father's company was concerned with trade in the West Indies; and the family owned an estate in British Guiana.[1]

According to the Legacies of British Slave-ownership database Barkly's father was compensated £132,000 from the Imperial Parliament for the emancipation of some 4,440 slaves in 1834.[2] Barkly inherited his father's estate in 1836 at the age of 20. He was awarded two of the compensation claims following his father's death.[3] He remained involved in the partnership until 1843.[4]

Barkly was elected to the House of Commons at a by-election on 26 April 1845 as one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for the borough Leominster.[5] He was returned unopposed,[6] and The Times observed that his election address did not render voters "much wiser" about his political views.[7]

As a Peelite, one of the supporters of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Barkly found himself adrift with few political prospects when Peel was overthrown, and he gratefully accepted the governorship of British Guiana when the post was offered by his Liberal opponents in 1848.[1]

In 1840, he married Elizabeth Helen, the second daughter of J. F. Timins.[8] She died in 1857 and Barkly remarried Anne Maria Pratt, the daughter of Thomas Simson Pratt, three years later. His oldest son Arthur Cecil Stuart Barkly (1843–1890) was his father's private secretary in Mauritius and the Cape, and went on to become the last British governor of Heligoland.[1]

Henry Barkly was awarded a Knight of the Order of the Bath on 18 July 1853, just prior to his appointment as Governor of Jamaica. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1864, and of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) in 1870. He was made a GCMG on 9 March 1874.

The Navarre diggings, a small Victorian gold field was named Barkly on 1 November 1861 in his honour.[12]

The South African towns of Barkly East and Barkly West, and the Barkly Pass are named after him.[13]

Several notable streets were named after him including a main civic street in Ballarat East named Barkly Street for him in 1858[14] along with the main street of Ararat, Victoria also named Barkly Street.[15] Barkly Street in Mentone, Victoria was named for him though later renamed Rogers Street.[16] The Barkly River, located in the alpine region of Victoria, within the Alpine National Park, is named in honour of Barkly. The bell atop the tower of the Ballarat Fire Brigade, on the corner of Barkly & East streets, Ballarat East was christened the "Lady Barkly" by the brigades Captain in August 1863.

• MacMillan, Mona (1969). "Sir Henry Barkly, mediator and moderator, 1815-1898". Balkema: Cape Town.
• Barkly, Sir Henry,KCB,GCMG, The Earlier House of Berkeley, published in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 8, 1883-84, pp. 193–223
• Barkly, Henry (1888). John, Maclean (ed.). "Testa de Nevill Returns for the County of Gloucester". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 12: 235–290. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir Henry Barkly.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Barkly
• Portraits of Sir Henry Barkly at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Mennell, Philip (1892). "Barkly, Sir Henry" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.