Barker family picture archive
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
John Barker (1771 - 1849) done in pen and ink during his Aleppo days.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Henry Barker (1829 - 1907), an oil by an unknown artist. Below a close-up of some of the medals depicted in that painting in family possession.
image courtesy of Romilly Lyttelton
image courtesy of Romilly Lyttelton
image courtesy of Romilly Lyttelton
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Oil painting of Sir Henry ‘Harry’ Barker (1872 - 1942) (artist unknown), Michael Barker’s grandfather.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Oil painting of Michael Barker’s paternal grandmother, Alice Barker (wife of Henry Barker) 1844 - 1926.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Alice Barker (wife of Henry Barker) 1844 - 1926.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Henry Michael Barker (Michael) 1923 - 1999 as painted by artist Henry Raeburn Dobson, 1976.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Scenes of old Egypt depicted by the English artist William Ashton, one of many who formed the ‘orientalist’ movement, and some of the few paintings acquired by the Barkers during mid 20th century at bargain prices then.
Family photo selection, contained in more than 50 dated albums, a few (less than 1%) of which here displayed in roughly chronological order, taken between 1908 and 1954 (later ones ignored).
There are earlier photos of Alexandria given as an album-set to the family in 1948, depicting the effects of the 1882 Royal Naval bombardment of Alexandria, viewable here:
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Tarla’ means field in Turkish, so presumably this house was built on the margins of Boudjah and presumably belonged to the Gordon family.
The elder Stephen Gordon (1851-1913) is the husband of Ida Olivia née Rees (1858-1946) standing next to him, with 5 out the 7 of their children in the picture (George 1880-1954, married 1905 Muriel Whittall 1884-1983, daughter of Richard Watson Whittall of Bournabat and Sophia Marie née Kramer; Stanley 1882-1942 also missing, who married May Barker 1906, possibly unrelated to our Barker family? seen in photo below), Gladys (1885-1979) who married in 1910 Thomas Catto, Douglas (1886-1950) who married in 1925 Clarice Briggs, Helen Ruth (1883-1963), Stephen (1890-1955) who married in 1928 Winifred Hood and Thomas (1895-1924) - click here to see the tombstone of Stephen Gordon sen. and his son Thomas in the Buca cemetery. - click here to view an alternative view of this house:
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
S. Cumberbatch is probably Ida Sybil (b. Angora, Turkey 1895).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘E. Wratislaw’ should be one of Albert Charles Wratislaw’s daughters, Evelyn (b. 1902) or Edith (b. Philippopolis [Plovdiv, Bulgaria] 1898) - information courtesy of Chris Seaton.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Sybil Cumberbatch (1895-1946) would in 1921 marry Henry Alwyn Barker. Her younger siblings (only one older was Robert) were Hugh, Carlton and Nancy Mary, all shown above / below. They were all the offspring of of Henry Alfred Cumberbatch CMG, British Consul General of Smyrna 1896-1908, (1858-1918) and Helene Gertrude Rees (1869-1928).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Carlton Cumberbatch is almost certainly Henry Carlton Cumberbatch. Carries the name of a Barbados plantation-owner ancestor who changed his name to Cumberbatch in the 1700s. H.H.C. became a naval commander and his grandson, Benedict is an actor who often appears on TV.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘K. Joly’ was Kenneth Henry Joly, born in Beirut in 1892, died in Guernsey in 1957. His father was Ernest Thomas Charles Joly, born in Smyrna 1859, died in Beirut in 1932. Ernest Joly was the first of his family to go to Beirut and he bought the company Henry Heald & Co. - shipping and trading - which is run to-day by Harriet Joly, daughter of John Joly who was the son of Kenneth Joly - information courtesy of Yvonne Joly, 2008.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Robert Cecil Cumberbatch (1892-1970), oldest son of of Henry Alfred Cumberbatch CMG (1858-1918) and Helene Gertrude nee Rees (1869-1928).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Charles Rees’ is probably Charles Owen Benwell Rees (1906-1982), son of William Benwell Rees and Ethelreda nee Barker. William Benwell Rees (1862-1920) is in turn one of the 6 children of Thomas Bowen Rees (sen.) (1826 St. Clear - 1899 Boudjah) and Ida Josephine Langdon.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Basil Rees’ is probably William Basil Rees (1902-1967), the elder son of William Benwell Rees and Ethelreda nee Barker.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Willie Rees’ is clearly William Benwell Rees as the photo lower down shows his wife beside him ‘Ethel’. The make of the car is a Fiat type ‘Tipo 4’, built from 1910 to 1918 and at the top of its range for that time (4 cylinders, 5699 cc, 45 cv and 95 km/h).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Beryl’ is clearly Beryl Barker (1902 - 1988), daugther of Sir Henry Barker and Emeline, younger sister of Henry Alwyn Barker, born 1902 Alexandria, living unmarried 1951.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Harry’ should be Sir Henry Edwards Barker (1872 Alexandria - 1942 Alexandria) and ‘Lena’ should be the nick-name of his wife, Emeline Mary (1873 Upper Egypt, married 1896 Alexandria - living 1951), daughter of James E. Cornish of Alexandria.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
These WWI photos are presumably of a Barker and presumably that person in Michael’s father, Henry Alwyn, who would be 18 at the time and at the time / or was to become a major in the Rifle Brigade.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
This car may be the same vehicle that was sold on in 1934 in England and currently being restored by a Rolls Royce enthusiast Bill Cutting - details.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Play at Beirut’, names suggest an amateur dramatic grouping of the local Levantines.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
As part of the Turco-Italian War of 1911-12, the Italian Navy in November 1911 bombarded and sunk two Turkish vessels anchored in the port of Beirut.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘H.D. Cumberbatch’ should be Hugh Douglas - 3rd and middle child of the Cumberbatch/Rees marriage - information courtesy of Chris Seaton.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
The marriage of Sybil Cumberbatch (1895-1946) to Henry Alwyn Barker (1898-1966).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘H.M.B.’ is clearly young Henry Michael Barker of Alexandria, born in that city 1923, son of Henry Alwyn Barker and Ida Sybil, daughter of Henry Alfred Cumberbatch (H.M. Consul General in the Levant), born in Angora, Turkey, 1895, married 1921 London, died 1947 London.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘I.S.B.’ should be Ida Sybil Barker and ‘M.H.B.’ should be her daughter Mary Helene, born 1926 Alexandria, died 2011, married: 1) Alastair Waterhouse 2) Ian Whitworth.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Lord Catto’ was Thomas Sivewright Catto, an international businessman from Aberdeen, had been made a baronet in 1921 after playing an important role in buying food and munitions during the First World War and was ennobled in 1936. In 1944, after spending the war years advising the Treasury, he was appointed Governor of the Bank of England - details: Thomas Catto married in 1910 Gladys Cumberbatch (1885-1979) who was the daughter of Stephen Gordon (1851-1913) and Ida Olivia Rees (1858-1946) who in turn was the daughter of Thomas Bowen Rees (1826 Wales - 1899 Boudjah, Turkey) and Ida Josephine Langdon (1837-1895).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Photos above and below dated 10-7-38.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Sir Dudley Pound’, was the soon to be appointed Admiral of the British Fleet. ‘The British Benevolent Fund’ maybe a military fund for financial assistance to army families, like:
‘San Stefano’ should be the name of the hotel casino that was one of the opulent places of play in Alexandria.
Lady Lampson should be the wife of Sir Miles Lampton, first Baron of Killearn (1880–1964), diplomatist, and was the high commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan between 1933-1946. He married for a second time in 1934, to Jacqueline Aldine Leslie Castellani, the only daughter of Professor Marchese Count Aldo Castellani, a bacteriologist and parasitologist. Information courtesy of Rhiannon Boardman and the Dictionary of National Biography.
The identity of ‘Baker Bey’ could be guessed through the autobiography of Miles Lampson Killearn, under ‘Politics and Diplomacy in Egypt’ where there is a reference to this individual as chief of police in Egypt.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Frank, John and Elizabeth (b. 1930, 1934, 1937) are siblings, children of Eric Haselden and Hope Gordon. Hope Gordon (b. 1905, m. 1925) in turn is the daughter of George Innes Gordon of Alexandria and Muriel Whittall (b. 1884, m. 1905). Muriel Whittall in turn is the daughter of Richard Watson Whittall of Bournabat, Smyrna (b. 1847, m. 1868, d. 1920) and Sophia Marie Kramer - information ‘The Genealogy of the Whittall Family of Turkey’.
A member of this family, John Haselden, is mentioned in many books concerning the Second World War in North Africa, son of a rich cotton merchant in Egypt, who volunteered for the commando service with the Long Range Desert Patrol, being killed in action at Tobruk in 1943.
More on the Maadi neighbourhood here and photos from the Williamson archive here:
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: 7 Rue Fenderl, May 1945
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: 1946
‘H.A.B.’ is clearly Henry Alwyn Barker of Alexandria, father of Michael, born 1898, major in the British Army and ‘S.A.B.’ is clearly his new daugther-in-law, Shelagh Ann, daughter of Sydenham Frederick Moore of Cairo, Egypt, doctor of medicine, born 1924 at Bexhill, Co. Sussex, married 1946.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Haydee’ is clearly Haydee Joan Rees, b. 1924, daughter of John Langdon Rees and Haydee Maud Giraud, who married 1943 George Gordon. George Gordon is in turn the son of George Innes Gordon of Alexandria who in 1905 married Muriel Whittall. ‘Fay Rees’ should be Fay Gwyneth Rees, b. 1934, m. 1961, sister of Haydee Joan Rees.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘The Caledonian Falls’ are a beauty spot in Troodos, central Cyprus, a spot popular with Levantines at the time.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: 7 Rue Fenderl, Laurens, Ramleh, March 1945
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: 7 Rue Fenderl, 25-4-1947
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Judge Holmes’ should be Hugh Holmes, judge in Egypt and son of the prominent judge Hugh Holmes (1840–1916). Information courtesy of Rhiannon Boardman and the Dictionary of National Biography.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: Vittel [should be the spa town in N.E. France] 30-6-48
‘Alain Giraud’ is clearly Raymond Alain Giraud, one of the late contributors to this site and ‘Harry F. Giraud’ will be his grandfather (through William Giraud and Audrey La Fontaine), Harold Frederick Giraud of Oriental Carpets Ltd. Smyrna (b. 1872, d. 1963, m. 1898 Marie Fidao).
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Shelagh Barker and sister-in-law Mary Helene Barker.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
caption: Racing, Alexandria Sporting Club, 1st May 1949
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Charlie de Zogheb’ should be Count Charles de Zogheb, a Lebanese Christian diplomat whose daughter would later marry the musician Paul Mustapha Abdi Anka.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘R.S.B.’ is clearly Romilly Sybil born 1948 child of Michael and Shelagh Barker.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
‘Dimitri Romanoff’ should be Prince Dimitri Romanovich Romanov, together with his older brother, Prince Nicholas Romanovich, the princes-in-exile of Russia.
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
image courtesy of Marianne Barker
Identification and info on Barker names through the Barker family tree done by the College of Arms, London, 1951.
Giraud family members identified with the help of the ‘Genealogy of the Whittall Family of Turkey’ book, Cumberbatch family members identification courtesy of contributor Chris Seaton, 2008.
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