Bernard Venour Barton
BARTON, Bernard Venour BE(MinMet) MIMM MAusIMM (1880-1955)
Bernard was born in Prahan, Melbourne, on August 7, 1880, the son of assayer and Melbourne Royal Mint Superintendent Robert Barton and his wife Catherine Victoria Barton nee Venour. His father had come to Melbourne in 1869, to be one of first two assayers at the Royal Mint Melbourne. His father rose to be Deputy Master of the Mint. Bernard’s first employment was as an assistant to the Assayer at the Royal Mint, Melbourne, in 1898.
From 1899 to 1902 he undertook a course in Mining and Metallurgy in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney. On graduating, he was briefly employed as a surveyor on the Lloyd Copper mine in NSW before working for Mount Lyell in Tasmania.
Around 1904, he came to Western Australia and by 1906 was employed as the Surface Manager at the Oroya Brown Hill Gold Mine. In 1908, he commenced employment with Bewick Moreing and Company, moving to Broken Hill with them as Underground Manager of the Zinc Corporation in 1909.
On April 20, 1909, Bernard married Vuna Airdrie Duff-Walker at Saint Thomas Church North Sydney. They had three children Edith Airdrie Barton (born 1910), Margaret Venour Barton (born 1913) and Bernard Robert Barton (born 1920).
By 1912, Bernard was the Underground Manager at the South Blocks Broken Hill Mine. On April 1, 1913, he commenced as Manager of the Broken Hill Junction Mine, resigning in August 1913. From January 1914 to 1915, he was the Manager of the Broken Hill Water Supply.
In 1915 he was appointed Superintendent of Prospecting, at the Seoul Mining Company Korea and later was Acting General Manager.
Returning to Australia in 1919, he was appointed Mining Superintendent at the Bendigo Amalgamated Goldfields.
From 1920 to 1922, he was in Northern Rhodesia as Assistant General Manager of the Rhodesia Broken Hill Development Company.
Between 1922 and 1924 he was in New Guinea as Prospector for the Waria River Gold and Platinum Options and Engineer Kaili Gold.
From 1925 to 1931 he was Engineer of the Cave del Predilzin Mine in North Italy for the Zinc Corporation. Other positions included Director of the Toombon Gold Mining Company NL, with its mine located near Walhalla, Victoria, in 1934.
From 1938 to 1952 he was Consulting Mining Engineer to Clutha Development Limited. In 1953, he retired to Galston NSW.
In 1910, Bernard was admitted as an Associate Member of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy and in 1913 became a full Member. He was also a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of its executive council.
Bernard died at Galston, NSW, on February 8, 1955, aged 74. He was survived by his three children; his wife having died in 1950.
Based on a biography in Westralian Founders of Twentieth Century Mining and augmented in November 2024 by Chris Fitzhardinge.
References:
Sydney Mail, 5.5.1909, p61
Sydney Morning Herald, 11.2.1913, p12
Barrier Miner, 1.4.1913, p2
Adelaide Advertiser, 6.12.1913, p14
Melbourne Argus, 11.11.1920, p8
Adelaide Chronicle, 7.3.1925, p51
Denis A Cumming and Richard G Hartley, Westralian Founders of Twentieth Century Mining, Graphic Source Pty Ltd, 2014
