William Wickstead Barton
BARTON, William Wickstead (1868 - 1924)
William was born in Bourke, NSW, on June 16, 1868, the son of pastoralist, mine owner and politician Russell Barton and his wife Jane McCulloch Barton (nee Davie). William grew up on the outback pastoral property, Mooculta Station, near Bourke. Around 1880 the family moved to Five Dock in Sydney to live in Russell Lea Manor.
His father, Russell, was a prominent prospector, mining investor and mine developer. By 1883, Russell was the chairman of the Great Cobar Copper Mining Company. He also was a director of 14 other mining companies and chairman of 11 of them.
William is reported to have studied mining and metallurgy at Freiburg in Germany in the late 1880’s.
In October 1888, William was an assayer at the Webbs South Extended Silver Mining Company in northern NSW and in February 1889 was appointed Manager.
In 1893 he was listed as a shareholder in the Mount Orara Gold Mining Company, NSW. By 1894, he was Manager of the Monte Carlo Claim at Wyalong, NSW. In 1895, he was listed as a shareholder in the Fiery Cross Gold Mining Company near West Wyalong, NSW.
He came to Western Australia on the “S S Wollowra” on February 25, 1896. By 1897, he was the Manager of the Princess Alix Gold Mine at Murrin Murrin. In 1898 he joined Bewick Moreing and Company and moved to Lennonville, as Superintendent of the Wheel of Fortune Gold Mine and Long Reef Gold Mine.
In November 1902, he was appointed General Manager of the Boulder Main Reef Gold Mining Company. He held this position until March 1906 apart from a period in 1903 when he travelled to London. In March 1906, he resigned from Bewick Moreing and Company.
In April 1906, he travelled to the Eastern States, on the “SS Riverina”.
William transitioned to a role as a pastoralist and grazier owning properties at Kingaroy in Queensland, being a partner in Mooculta Station and being a Director of the Pastoral Finance Association Limited.
In December 1912, he and his father sold the 102,000 acre Mooculta Station.
William married Helen Barbour at St Stephens Church, Newtown, on July 8, 1916. They had two children Jane Barton, born 1917 and Russell Barbour Barton born 1920.
William died on December 5, 1924 at his property Walla Walla, Bundanoon, NSW. He was aged 56 and was survived by his wife Helen and their children Jane and Russell.
Based on a biography in Westralian Founders of Twentieth Century Mining and augmented in November 2024 by Chris Fitzhardinge.
References:
Evening News, 2.8.1889, p6
NSW Government Gazette, 17.11.1893, p8860
West Australian, 27.2.1896, p4
Goldfields Courier, 28.11.1896, p23
Denis A Cumming and Richard G Hartley, Westralian Founders of Twentieth Century Mining, Graphic Source Pty Ltd, 2014
Bede Nairn, 'Barton, Russell (1830–1916)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed online 30 November 2024
