The Barker Collection 

One of A C Barker’s most invaluable projects is a panorama image of Christchurch taken in 1860, comprised of 18 individual photographs. Panoramic cameras were patented in the 1840s, but were not available to Barker in New Zealand. 

Instead, he took these from the top of the Canterbury Provincial Government Buildings over the course of 5 days. One can only imagine how much work it took to attempt to correctly align the photographs! This is an invaluable source for researching how the city of Christchurch developed over time, since it shows the settlement in its nascent years. 

See the full panorama in this blog post.

This wooden box in the form of a cottage belonged to Emma Barker and contained her sewing materials. She brought this with her on the Charlotte Jane. Sewing, knitting and mending likely occupied her time on the long voyage to New Zealand. Sewing was an important domestic skill for settler women at this time, both for decorative and practical reasons. Clothing and materials could be difficult to come by in the first years of European settlement, which meant women’s sewing skills became especially important. This box highlights an important aspect of Emma Barker’s domestic life that was a shared experience by women across the class spectrum.

Migration often entailed a separation from family members. As Emma Barker departed England in 1850, she would not have expected to see her mother, Mary Bacon, again. When her mother died in 1856 it would have been a difficult event to grieve at such a distance. This brooch was made with a lock of Mary Bacon’s hair and likely sent to Emma by her sister Jemima to bridge this distance in some way. Alfred Barker took a photograph of Emma wearing the brooch, which is also in the collection. The brooch was donated to the Museum by Emma’s great granddaughter, Pam Bosworth, 162 years after Emma’s death.

Alfred Barker took this photograph of Emma wearing the mourning brooch sent to her by her sister Jemima when their mother died.  The brooch was donated to the Museum by Emma’s great granddaughter, Pam Bosworth, 162 years after Emma’s death in 1858.

A few of the Barker children wrote letters to their uncle Matthias in England, who was Alfred Barker’s brother. This example was written by Arthur Barker when he was less than 10 years old. Not many letters written by children in the nineteenth century have survived, so ones like this can offer an insight into how colonial children experienced their world. Arthur referenced the growing city around him through the ‘government buildings’, the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, near their house in Worcester Street. He mentioned his brothers playing on stilts, which is an example of how children spent their spare time. He also wrote about the success of his father’s photography. This must have made an impression on young Arthur, who was keen to send a picture of himself to his uncle. Sending photographs to family members was an important way to maintain connections, and Alfred’s work helped to play a part in that.

Taken in 1861, this photograph depicts Alfred Barker's daughter Sarah Elizabeth Barker standing on Worcester Bridge, and his other daughter Mary Barker sitting near the flax to the left. The buildings in the background, The Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, were written about by Arthur Barker in his letter to his uncle Matthias in England.