BARKER, Herbert Mayer (1877-1942) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on 23 Feb. 1877 and served an apprenticeship with A. Marshall Mackenzie of Glasgow from 1897 until 1901. He then joined the Architectural Department of the Caledonia Railway in Glasgow and remained there until 1903 when he entered the office of Niven & Wrigglesworth as Chief Assistant. Barker emigrated to Canada in 1908 and spent two years surveying in Western Canada before settling in Vancouver in 1910. He worked briefly for R.J. MacDonald then formed a partnership with A. Campbell Hope in December of that year (see list of works under Hope & Barker). In 1911 he commenced practice under his own name, but no references to his work in Canada after 1912 has been found. Barker left Canada in 1914 and returned to Scotland, and later opened his own office in Glasgow in 1921. He was elected as a Fellow of the R.I.B.A. in April 1941, and died at East Dunbartonshire, Scotland on 2 April 1942 (biog. and list of works in Frederick Chatterton, Who's Who in Architecture, 1923, 22; biog. R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, Vol. 1, 122).
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for J.S. Nye, 3rd Street West, c. 1911
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for A.H. Scriven, Queens Road East, c. 1911
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Major A.E. Snyder, c. 1911
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Patrick Philips, 8th Avenue East near Dock Street, c. 1911
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for W.A. Stones, 7th Avenue West near Oak Street, c. 1911
COMPETITIONS
VANCOUVER, B.C., Simon Fraser Public School, West 16th Avenue, 1908. Soon after his arrival in Canada, Barker submitted an entry in this local competition. His proposal was not among the three finalists, and the commission was later awarded to Pearce & Hope (Vancouver Daily World, 9 April 1908, 10; 12 May 1908, 10)