Remarriage and later life
The 60-year old widower Thomas Barber re-married, at Bradford in July 1831, to a widow called Anna Elizabeth Bateman.1
Nottm Review etc 1 July 1831. Sheffield Independent 9 July. She and her late husband are referred to in newspaper announcements as “of Bingley.” This was where a widow called Charlotte Waiblinger lived, who had been the wife of the Moravian surgeon and apothecary Ignatius Waiblinger, who I think was Anna Elizabeth's uncle. The marriage was reported in the London “Sun” of 12 July 1831 and the Leicester Chronicle of 2 July stating him as “Esq” and “of Nottingham Park.”
Here again we see the Moravians' influence. Her maiden name was Waiblinger, and her family had lived at Fulneck, where she had been baptised in 1778.
Her parents were C.F. Waiblinger and Sarah. The name Francis Waiblinger, “surgeon & apothecary, Moravian Settlement near Pudsey, is in the 1783 edition of the Medical Register. There are several references to the Waiblingers in Rayner's History of Pudsey.
Her first husband had been a schoolmaster called William Bateman who worked for the Moravians at their school in Chelsea....
In the Parish Register of St.Luke's Chelsea, entries of baptism of their children Sarah, Henrietta and Ignatius state him as “schoolmaster,” of “Church Lane,” I think that C.I. LaTrobe was the Moravian minister at Chelsea at that period, and that he served it from the main London base of his Church, which was in Fetter Lane, between Fleet St and Holborn in central London. But “Fetter Lane” is the name of the Moravian burial ground at Chelsea, just off the King's Road near the Beaufort Street bus stop. The Moravians had a property near there, on Cheyne Walk, called Lindsey House. I suspect that William Bateman was closely related to John Bateman born 1773 at Wyke near Fulneck, afterwards said to be of Ockbrook, whose wife was I think the sister or niece of C.I. LaTrobe (see Burke, Landed Gentry).
This was Joseph Hurlock c.1755-1845, who incidentally was a co-trustee of the main Moravian property in Fetter Lane, London, with C.I. LaTrobe (see Insurance Records in London Metropolitan Archives). The nature of his property at Bardney is not yet understood. The Vicar there, John Wray, is said to have acted as Mr Hurlock's agent. Mr Wray may well have nominally been the school master, with William Bateman as assistant. School master is William's occupation stated in the Bardney parish register, when his and Anna Elizabeth's youngest child was baptised, in 1822.
After their marriage the Barbers lived mainly in Nottingham in rented houses. Directories list him at Park Hill in 1832 and at Park Terrace in 1834 and 1840.
White's, 1832; Dearden, 1834; and Orange.1840 - in each case he is one of several “Artists and Drawing Masters” and [his son] Alfred Barber is at Angel Row (1832), Long Row (1834), a printer. Alfred married Eliza Gill in Aug.1831. Barber is not in the 1825 Nottingham Directory (Glover's).
Later it seems they lived at “Parkside.”
Park-side may simply mean the houses on the west side of Park Terrace or on the Derby Road along the top of the Park. In the 1841 census some very close neighbours of the Barbers were in houses in “Derby Terrace.” “Parkside” nowadays means a road at Wollaton.
I don't think he is the “T.Barber Esq” who consistently won prizes for vegetables and fruit.
Nottingham papers, 1830s. I think this Barber of Greasley.
In March 1832 Barber was “authorised” by Nottingham Corporation to head to London to paint portraits of Lord Holland and Sir Thomas Denman.
Nottingham Review … 30 March 1832.
The new Mrs Barber brought with her four children, three girls aged about nineteen, sixteen, and nine, and a boy of about twelve. The two elder daughters Sarah Catherine and Henrietta Susanna (described as daughters of the late Mr Wm Bateman of Bingley) married, in 1835 and in 1838.
Newspapers, including Stamford Mercury 6 Febr. 1835; Nottm Journal 12 Oct. 1838. Sarah Catherine married William Roome, described as a draper, of South Parade, Nottingham on 29 Jan. 1835. Henrietta Susanna married William Manning, a Bedford wine-merchant, on 10 Oct.1838, the first marriage ceremony to be conducted (by Rev. J.Wild) at the Independent Chapel, St James's Street, Nottingham.
Of the Barber sons, I have seen it said that at least the youngest of them, Frederick, was at school at Eton, but I question that.
Mitford-Barberton p.71. This has been widely published but not, I think, with any evidence given! From about 1807 a Mr Goodacre ran an Academy at Standard Hill. It would be worth checking Notts Archives M/373 to see if it confirms whether the Barber children went to school there.
I think these boys might have been sent to a Moravian school, perhaps the one at Fulneck. But there were Moravian Schools at nine places in England including Fulneck, Bedford, and Ockbrook.
Ami Bost, History of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren (1834) p.428. The head of the school at Fulneck by c.1812 was C.F. Reichel. It was Reichel, I think, who had sent William Bateman from Yorkshire to work at Chelsea. C.F. Reichel's brother S.R. Reichel would in due course marry the youngest daughter of Joseph Hurlock, the man to whose “patch” Mr Bateman had moved on to as schoolmaster at Bardney.
Thomas Barber died in September 1843 at Parkside and was buried in the Nottingham General Cemetery, very close to his home.
“In the 73d year of his age” and after two years severe illness: Derby Mercury 27 Sept. 1843:- “Mr Barber attained considerable eminence as a portrait-painter; few artists being equal to him, either in fidelity of likeness, or in the style, tone, and finish of his pictures.” ,,,,, “….. in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to everlasting life” (Nottm Review 15 Sep.).
He is in grave number 830 “against the wall near the right-hand top corner of the cemetery, opposite the main entrance from the Derby Road” underneath a weeping ash tree and “covered by a large, flat stone level with the ground” (Mitford-Barberton p.28).
The flat stone on the ground is a feature consistent with a Moravian (United Brethren) burial, but, if he was a member as such, perhaps he might have been buried at Ockbrook.
Mitford-Barberton quotes the inscription on the stone in full:- "SACRED to the memory of THOS.BARBER, Artist, who departed this life the 12th day of September 1843 in the 73rd year of his age. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Here rest inshrined the sacred dust Waiting to hear the trumpet sound when Summoned graves give up their trust."
He had made his will the previous October leaving all his personal estate to his wife Anna Elizabeth, making her sole executrix. The Will then makes reference to his house on Standard Hill, clearly a property being rented out but (who knows) maybe the house he used to live in. This house is left to trustees Samuel Thurman and John Bradley on the basis that the widow should have the rents and profits etc for her life - and that when sold the net proceeds after the mortgage should be three quarters for his son Henry and a quarter for his son Joseph. The will states that this division is necessary “as an act of justice” to Henry and that the other sons – who in fact received nothing under their father's will - “have already been advanced by me.” The witnesses were Jno Wild and Mary Thurman. This was proved at York in January 1844.
Details from probate copy kept at York, Borthwick Institute. Unless something is wrong with that, Mr Mitford-Barberton's note of the will (p.28) is not accurate. He said it left his house, personal effects and pictures to his wife for life. It seems clear enough that Thomas Barber did not own the house he and his wife lived in at The Park. Noting that the will was witnessed by John Wild, the minister of the St.James's Street Independent chapel, Mitford-Barberton suggested that Barber had been a Deacon in Mr Wild's chapel. He also said that Mr Wild inherited some of the paintings under the will, but it says no such thing.
Mitford-Barberton omits to mention the Trustees appointed relative to the house at Standard Hill. Samuel Thurman was a senior parishioner and deacon of the Castle-gate Independent chapel.
Heather Williams mentions that Barber's estate was valued at under £100 (which may come from an inventory attached to the will). Williams then inconsistently continues by saying that Barber had made a considerable fortune (Thesis p.257).
But the next year there was a sale, the notice of which gushed -
“[the] whole of his choice paintings, including works (many detailed) by the late Sir Thomas Lawrence, Reynolds, Kneller etc., and by Barber himself, and by T.Barber junior”….…. “to transmit to posterity Portraits (correct likenesses he [the late lamented T.Barber] was most happy in obtaining) that will become more valuable in days to come. The popularity of the late Mr Barber, as an artist, combined with his suavity of manners and kindly disposition manifested to all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, will last longer than the canvas on which his talents were displayed, and the Auctioneer anticipates a competition that will confer a distinction upon the fortunate possessors of the works of his easel.”
Nottm Review &c 15 and 22 March 1844. Mitford-Barberton (p.28) adds:- The pictures, or most of them, were divided among the sons, but the rest of the household effects came into the possession of the Bateman family, and it was from Mr. C. T. Tallent-Bateman that I obtained a self-portrait of Thomas Barber and a number of landscape pencil sketches done by the artist in the years 1803 and 1804. These drawings are executed with the greatest care and precision and show how sincere he was in everything that he did, for ‘art is long and life is short’.
It strikes me that of the pictures in this sale, those attributed to Lawrence, Reynolds, and so on might well be copies by the Barbers themselves. Writing thirty-odd years later Redgrave in fact expressed a low opinion of Barber's work, saying that he “possessed a local reputation; but his portraits, though showing the influence of Lawrence, were weak, and had little character,” adding almost perjoratively “he is said to have made a considerable sum by his profession.”
As cited above.
Of the surviving sons, all had moved away before Barber died.
The elder, Hugh, and the youngest, Fred, had gone to South Africa.
Henry had gone to America. He served as a minister at Amenia, NY., for some years but I do not yet know if he was a Moravian. He was a strong opponent of slavery according to Mitford-Barberton, adding that he was an artist and that Nottingham Castle have a water-colour by him, of a soldier (p.31). Artuk list three pictures by a certain Henry Barber of Derby, but were these not perhaps by his father?
Joseph was still in America in 1843.
Alfred had remained in Nottingham for a time but had left for the Channel Islands before Thomas Barber died. Alfred had worked in the 1830s in collaboration with his father, an example being the portrait of [the second] Lord Rancliffe, “just painted by Mr T. Barber,” prints of which were being sold by Alfred from premises in Park Street.
Nottingham Review etc 21 July 1837.
Alfred developed an interest in photography and at one time c.1841 to early 1843 had a daguerreotype studio at Bromley House, the home of the Nottingham Subscription Library. His business there was not a success and he had made over-optimistic promises to pay royalties. He was shut down a few months before his father's death by an injunction obtained by his licensor
The action being "Beard -v- Barber" - hearing which I struggle not to smile. See newspaper reports eg Sheffield Independent of 11 Feb. 1843.
..... and moved away from Nottingham. At the time of his father's death he was in already Guernsey and/or Jersey (where the daguerreotype patent did not apply) offering photographic portraits, his printing office in Park Street having been taken over and his Bromley House studio closed.
See Heathcote, Bernard & Pauline, “A Faithful Likeness,”(2002). See also Nottm Review July and August 1843 for his Park Street premises.
Barber's widow Anna Elizabeth moved away from Nottingham. In 1845 her son Ignatius Waiblinger Bateman and her youngest daughter Olivia Mary both got married, in a double ceremony at Chorlton near Manchester.
Manchester Courier 11 Oct. 1845.
Anna Elizabeth was living in Islington when she died in 1855
Mitford-Barberton, p.28… Also London Daily News 4 Jan. 1855:- Barber – Dec. 31 at Islington, Anna Elizabeth, relict of the late T. Barber Esq., of Nottingham, aged 77. Her death was registered in Islington (freebmd).
and she was buried in the Abney cemetery in Stoke Newington.
..... Brief details of exhibitions and List of pictures to follow.
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