View source for Collet Barker

{{Short description|British military officer and explorer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}

{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix  =
|name              = Collet Barker
|honorific_suffix  =
|native_name       =
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|image             = 
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|birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1784|12|31}}
|death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1831|04|30|1784|12|31}}
|birth_place       = [[Hackney (parish)|Hackney]], Middlesex, England
|death_place       = [[Younghusband Peninsula]],[[Coorong]], South Australia, Australia
|placeofburial     = Unknown
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|nickname          =
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|allegiance        = {{flag|United Kingdom|23px}}
|branch            = {{army|United Kingdom|23px}}
|serviceyears      = 1806–1831
|rank              = Captain
|servicenumber     = <!--Do not use data from primary sources such as service records.-->
|unit              = [[39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot|39th Regiment of Foot]]
|commands          =
|battles           = [[Peninsular War]]
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'''Collet Barker''' (31 December 1784 – 30 April 1831) was a British military officer and explorer. He was commandant at two British [[Outpost (military)|outposts]] for the [[Colony of New South Wales]]. [[Fort Wellington, Australia|Fort Wellington]] on the [[Cobourg Peninsula]], [[Northern Territory]] and a penal settlement at [[King George Sound (Western Australia)]]. Following the closure of the penal settlement at King George's Sound, at the direction of the Governor, whilst he was enroute to Sydney he explored areas of [[Southern Australia]] along the eastern shore of [[Gulf St Vincent]], the southern [[Mount Lofty Ranges]], [[Adelaide Plains]] and overland from [[Yankalilla Bay]] on [[Fleurieu Peninsula]] to the [[Murray Mouth]] before being killed whilst on duty. <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32075531</ref>

==Early Life==
Barker was born in [[Hackney (parish)|Hackney]], England, son of William Barker and his wife Sarah Collet and lived in [[Newbury, Berkshire|Newbury]] as a child. He joined the [[British Army]] on 23 January 1806, as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] by purchase in the [[39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot|39th Regiment of Foot]]; he became a lieutenant in 1809 and a captain in 1825. Barker served in Sicily in 1807-11 and was a veteran of the [[Peninsular Wars]], serving in Portugal, Spain, and France. He also served in Canada and Ireland before embarking with his regiment, the 39th Regiment of Foot 1st Battalion, on the prison convict hulk [[Phoenix (1810 ship)|''Phoenix'']] for Australia; which arrived in [[Port Jackson]],[[Sydney]] on 14 July 1828. <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2190743</ref> <ref>https://www.freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_phoenix_1828.htm</ref>

===Northern Territory===
On 13 September 1828 he arrived as the new commandant of [[Fort Wellington, Australia|Fort Wellington]], the settlement at [[Raffles Bay]] in the [[Northern Territory]].

When Barker arrived to take up command at Fort Wellington, relations between the Aboriginal people and the settlers under the previous command of [[Captain (Army)|Captain]] Henry Smyth had deteriorated to the point of mutual fear and hostility. In his first dispatch to [[Ralph Darling|Governor Darling]], Barker reported, "Nothing has been seen of the Natives for a considerable time; they appear to have deserted the immediate neighbourhood". A series of thefts and spearings by the Aborigines led to the former commandant offering a reward of five pounds for "any native who could be brought in, hoping that, by keeping such individual at the settlement, it might have the effect of preventing any further hostility".<ref name="Darling1829">Darling to Huskisson, 3 September 1829, ''[[Historical Records of Australia]]''.{{Page needed|date=October 2018}}</ref>

The result of this, to further quote Darling, was a "very gross outrage".<ref name="Darling1829" /> A six-year-old Aboriginal girl named Riveral was captured during a raid on an encampment by six men from the settlement, including armed convicts.<ref name="Connor2002">{{Citation | last= Connor | first= John | title= Australian Frontier Wars, 1788–1838 | publisher= [[University of New South Wales Press]] | location= Sydney | year= 2002 | isbn= 0-86840-756-9 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JWE5r39Ed1oC }}, p. 74–77.</ref> Private Charles Miller, in evidence sworn to an enquiry, stated the following.<ref>Captain H. Smyth to [[Alexander Macleay|Colonial Secretary Macleay]], 12 February 1828, ''[[Historical Records of Australia]]'', Series&nbsp;III, [http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/9/2/5/public/B13858427S3V6Series%203.%20Volume%20VI.%20Complete%20work.pdf Volume&nbsp;VI], p. 781–789.</ref>
{{quote|text=
At this time two fires appeared close to the beach... they proceeded onward and discovered four others and made for them... they found them close to each other and from fifty to sixty natives surrounded them, whose voices they heard through the thick scrub, before they saw them their mode of attack was then formed, they went round the scrub and got sight of them within 40 yards; three of the party then advanced and fired, in order to strike panic into them and to enable the party to take some of them prisoners; it had the desired effect for a moment, for they all started but very soon returned and commenced throwing their spears very fast. The other two stand of arms loaded and in reserve with two men in the rear... and immediately discharged... they again fled, some into the bush and others into the water... One man apparently badly wounded crept on his hand and knees towards the water; a woman also had retreated towards the water, but returned for two children whom she took up and made again for the water; they afterwards discovered the whole of these four had been wounded, which he supposed were by some of the first five shots. Volunteer James Murray and himself endeavoured to take the woman and child prisoners; she was a very large and powerful woman. She made desperate resistance, rushed into the water, and he gave her a wound with the bayonet; this he certainly should not have done had he been certain it was a woman; but fearing that an escape would be made, he was determined if possible to secure the person. The children were afterwards brought on shore, one was dead and the other was slightly wounded; the woman fell and he supposed died in the water.}}

It was with this background that Collet Barker began his command, on 13 September 1828.<ref name="Connor2002" /> Barker first made contact with the local Aboriginal people on 25 November 1828, when Costello the stockman reported that he had made contact. Barker and Davis the surgeon were taken to the place of contact, where they met ten men, whom they presented with handkerchiefs, a pair of scissors, and some bread. The group invited Barker to accompany them, which Barker declined to do, though he tried to convey that he would be pleased to do so another time. Barker recorded his second contact with the local inhabitants in his journal, dated 2 December 1828, as follows.<ref>Journal of Capt. Collet Barker, 2 December 1828, P.43. ([[State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales]]).</ref> 
{{quote| text=... as we were cruising along the shore some natives were discovered. We made friendly signs to each other and I ran the boat in and landed unarmed desiring everyone else to remain in the boat. On our approach to the beach the natives returned some distance from it, evidently in a little alarm. I advanced to show I supposed them to be, and soon fell in with one who seemed to be a chief. We exchanged presents, I giving him a handkerchief and he giving me a spear, unheaded, and the stick for throwing it. He had perhaps taken off the head. He also gave me a string of beads...I asked for Wellington and he pointed to himself and repeated the name. Another native soon came up and afterwards a third. They did not want me to go with them and appeared rather in a hurry. When I got on board again I found there was a bit of bread in the boat and I sent my servant with it. The doctor went with him. They ate up the bread immediately and the chief took off a pair of bracelets and gave them to the doctor.}}

It was soon after this that the aborigines approached the settlement and were induced to enter by Barker's sending Norrie, their Malay interpreter's daughter, to take Wellington's hand and lead him into the fort. Over the following months, Barker had restored relations to the point where he was able to go off alone with the locals on trips for days at a time with complete safety.

One of the reasons for the establishment of the settlement was to try to establish commercial contacts with the Malay or [[Macassan]] fishers who regularly sailed their [[proa]]s to the Northern shores of Australia in search of the [[Holothuroidea|trepang]], or sea-slugs, which they traded with the Chinese. Over the course of the year over 1000 seafarers visited the shores of [[Raffles Bay]] and showed keen interest in establishing trade with Barker's outpost. Barker in his journals, records many Aboriginal names, words and aspects of Aboriginal culture gleaned through the regular contact that was developed with the local inhabitants. There continued to be sources of friction between the two cultures, especially the theft of the settlement's canoes. Barker solved this by negotiating to lend the canoes and found that by the July, they were being returned with fish and tortoise shell in them as thanks.

Orders to abandon the settlement had been received before Barker's dispatches reporting the success of his contacts with the Macassan fishers and the improvements in their relations with the Aboriginal inhabitants could affect the outcome of Governor Darling's decision. Barker then moved on to become commandant of the British settlement at [[King George Sound]], stopping off at the new settlement of [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]], [[Perth]], on the way.

===Western Australia===
The following year Barker was commander at [[King George Sound (Western Australia)|King George Sound]] in [[Western Australia]]. Barker was an excellent administrator and proved to be a humane friend to the [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] people at both commands. He recorded Aboriginal place names, people, traditions and beliefs which otherwise might have been lost.

===South Australia===
In 1831, on the recommendation of [[Charles Sturt]], who had visited the shoaled mouth of the [[Murray River]] the previous year, Barker was sent to explore the east coast of [[Gulf St Vincent]] in [[South Australia]] to see if another channel from the Murray entered the sea there.

On 13 April 1831, Barker and his party arrived at [[Cape Jervis (headland)|Cape Jervis]] on the ''Isabella''. He examined the coast as far north as present day [[Port Gawler, South Australia|Port Gawler]] and found that there was no channel. Barker encountered the [[Onkaparinga River]] on 15 April. He then explored the ranges inland, north of the present site of [[Adelaide]], and climbed [[Mount Lofty]] Ranges (without reaching the summit) where he sighted the [[Port River]] inlet, [[Barker Inlet]] and the future [[Port Adelaide]], his most important sighting. He then moored ''Isabella'' near present [[Yankalilla Bay]] and went overland to explore the area around [[Lake Alexandrina (South Australia)|Lake Alexandrina]] and [[Encounter Bay]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://adelaideaz.com/articles/explorer-collet-barker--known-for-indigenous-empathy--killed-in-possible-mistaken-link-to-sins-of-kangaroo-island-sealers- | title=Explorer Collet Barker, known for indigenous empathy, killed in 1831: Possible link to sins of Kangaroo Island sealers }}</ref>

===Death===
On 29 April 1831, they reached the [[Murray Mouth]]. Barker swam across the narrow channel the next morning, went over a sandhill, and was never seen again. A few days later the party learned that Barker had been killed by the local [[Ngarrindjeri]] [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous people]] who may have taken him for a whaler or sealer, many of whom had abducted Indigenous women. The men responsible had been identified,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25740466 |title=An Old Time Episode. The Murder of Captain Barker, Narrative of a Survivor. |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |location=South Australia |date=30 October 1894 |accessdate=18 May 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> but no retaliation or punitive action against those believed responsible was undertaken, which one commentator believed emboldened those people to commit further attacks on Europeans, notably the [[Maria (brigantine)|''Maria'']] survivors.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of the Murray|editor=G. V. Lawrence and Graeme Kinross Smith|author=H. A. Lindsay|chapter=Ch. 11: Aborigines in the Murray Valley|publisher=Rigby Ltd.|date=1975|isbn=0-85179-917-5}}</ref>

Had he lived, Barker was to have been sent by [[Ralph Darling|Governor Darling]] to New Zealand's [[North Island]] as first resident because of the feared [[Māori people|Māori]] unrest; his role was to conciliate.

==Recognitions==
In December 1829, [[Mount Barker, Western Australia]] was named after Captain Collet Barker, whilst he was commandant of the garrison at King George Sound, by a naval ship's surgeon [[Thomas Braidwood Wilson]].

In 1830 and 1831 Barker was made a [[Justice of the peace]] of Peace in the Colony of New South Wales <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2200307</ref>

[[Mount Barker (South Australia)|Mount Barker]] was named for him by [[Charles Sturt|Captain Sturt]], who erroneously thought it was Mount Lofty, and the [[Mount Barker, South Australia|eponymous town]] is named for the mountain. <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4917178</ref>

[[Barker Inlet]] near [[Port Adelaide]] is also named for him which he sited from the Mount Lofty Ranges and explored the inlet between the 17th and 21st April 1831.
Later travelling southwards he discovered a clear stream which he named [[Sturt River]]. <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160738358</ref>

In 1903 the Australian electoral division of [[Division of Barker]] in South Australia was named after him. <ref>https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/147772550</ref>

[[File:Captain Sturt Monument, Hindmarsh Island.jpg|thumb|Plaque on a monument dedicated to Captain [[Charles Sturt]] and Collet Barker, on [[Hindmarsh Island]].]]

==Personal life==
Barker never married. His nearest relations were [[Collet Dobson Collet]], nephew; [[Clara Collet]], great niece; [[Edward Dobson]], New Zealand engineer, nephew; and great nephews, Sir [[Arthur Dudley Dobson]], New Zealand survey engineer, and George Dobson, New Zealand surveyor, who was murdered in 1866 by the [[Richard Burgess (murderer)|Burgess gang]].<ref name=nzdb>{{cite web | title = Burgess, Richard | work = [[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]] | url = https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1b48/burgess-richard|accessdate=15 October 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950|List of solved missing person cases]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*''[[Historical Records of Australia]]'', Series&nbsp;I, [http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/9/0/9/public/B13858427S1V16Series%20I.%20Volume%20XVI.%20Complete%20work.pdf Volume&nbsp;XVI]: 237–241, 262–263, 486–487.
*''[[Historical Records of Australia]]'', Series&nbsp;III, [http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/9/2/5/public/B13858427S3V6Series%203.%20Volume%20VI.%20Complete%20work.pdf Volume&nbsp;VI]: see Index listing for "Barker, Collet".
*Bach, J. (1966), "[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010054b.htm Barker, Collet (1784–1831)]", ''[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]'', Volume 1, [[Melbourne University Press]], p.&nbsp;57.
*Collet Barker, journal, 13 Sep 1828–29 Aug 1829 ([[State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales]]).
*Mulvaney, John. (1993). [[hdl:10070/718158|The search for Collet Barker of Raffles Bay]]. Northern Territory Library Occasional Papers Collection. 
*Mulvaney, John & Green, Neville (1992), ''Commandant of Solitude: The Journals of Captain Collet Barker, 1828–1831'' ([[Miegunyah Press]]).
*Price, A. G. (1924–1925), "The Work of Captain Collet Barker in South Australia", ''Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia: South Australian Branch'', vol 26, pp 52–66.
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Collet|Last=Barker|shortlink=0-dict-biogBa.html#barker1}}

==External links==
* [http://www.desertdreams.com.au/iblog/C1759100478/E20071129143436/index.html Collet Barker] &nbsp;—Desert Star
* [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=&exactPhrase=Collet+Barker&anyWords=&notWords=&requestHandler=&dateFrom=1809-01-01&dateTo=&l-word=*ignore*|*ignore*&l-illustrated=*ignore*|*ignore*&sortby= Newspaper articles mentioning "Collet Barker"] &nbsp;—[[Trove]]
* [https://www.sea.museum/2014/02/21/the-death-of-captain-barker/ The death of Captain Barker] &nbsp;—[[Australian National Maritime Museum]]
* [http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/Web/4974AG/tpc-cge/4974ag/aust%20asia%20pac%20onlineasp/LO1/Chaloupka.htm Pre-Colonial Contact]  &nbsp;—Extract from ''Journey in Time'' by [[George Chaloupka]]
* [http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1320 European discovery of the River Murray system: Collet Barker’s exploration in Gulf St Vincent] &nbsp;—[[Government of South Australia]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Collet}}
[[Category:1784 births]]
[[Category:1830s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British people in colonial Australia]]
[[Category:Explorers of Australia]]
[[Category:Explorers of South Australia]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Australia]]
[[Category:People from Hackney Central]]
[[Category:People murdered in Australia]]
[[Category:English explorers]]