Born at Weston, Ontario on 27 August 1874, son of Joseph Barker and Ellen Muir, he worked as a mason before moving to Neepawa in 1895. He moved to Winnipeg in 1903 and worked for Davidson Brothers before partnering with Norman Brown in the construction firm of Brown and Barker. In the 1920s, he left the business to establish the Peerless Laundry. He then spent about five years in the United States as construction superintendent for the Hegemann Harris Construction Company on jobs at Chicago, Illinois. He returned to Winnipeg and was a builder until his death.
He was married twice, first on 27 August 1900 to Annie Ida Macpherson (1877-1918) and they had two children: Wallace Joseph Barker (1901-?) and Eileen M. Barker (1904-?). On 19 March 1924, he married Sarah Jane “Sadie” Wylie (1893-1980) at Winnipeg and they had a son, Daniel Rupert Joshua Barker (1936-1975). The family lived at 907 North Drive in Fort Garry at the time of his death.
He died at the Grace Hospital on 15 January 1956 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
See also:
Manitoba Business: Brown and Barker
Ontario birth registrations [Rupert Joshua Barker, Joe Walace Barker], Ancestry.
Ontario marriage registration [Rupert Joshua Barker, Annie I. Macpherson], Ancestry.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Death registration [Ida Ann Barker], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Mrs. R. J. Barker], Manitoba Free Press, 18 September 1918, page 14.
1921 Canada census, Ancestry.
Marriage registration [Rupert Joshua Barker, Sarah Jane Wylie], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Rupert J. Barker], Winnipeg Tribune, 16 January 1956, page 17.
“Laundry founder, R. J. Barker dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 January 1956, page 26.
Obituary [Daniel Rupert Joshua Barker], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 October 1975, page 39.
Obituary [Sarah Jane Barker], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 July 1980, page 49.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 February 2024
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