William Barker (prospector)

William "Billy" Barker was an English prospector who was famous for being one of the first to find a large amount of gold in the Cariboo of British Columbia. He also founded Barkerville which is preserved as a historic town.

Barker was born in 1817 in March, Cambridgeshire, England. As a child he worked as a waterman on the waterways of England He married Jane Lavender in Earith, Cambridgeshire in 1839 and had one daughter named Emma Eliza. Jane died in the workhouse in Doddington, Cambridgeshire, in 1850. In 1863, Barker married his second wife Elizabeth Collyer. Their short-lived marriage ended when Elizabeth died on 21 May 1865 at the age of 38. The previous year Barker had sold his shares in the claim that had made him famous, since most of the “lead” gold had been cleared out. He may have thought he had made enough to live comfortably and still invest in further ventures, but his fortunes declined. His reputed generosity may also have contributed to his impoverishment.

Because railways had begun to replace canal transport, Barker was unsure of what to do with his life. During the 1840s, he decided to go to California, where he would try his luck in the gold rush there. He made little, but when the gold rush ended, he moved up to British Columbia with many fellow miners. His party discovered gold in the Williams Creek area, and his fellow crew member Wilhelm Dietz - "Dutch Bill" -(Wilhelm Dietz- Prussian sailor) was the first to find a good amount of gold in the creek valley area.

Barker decided to search for his gold down river, close to Stouts Gulch. Many people said he was crazy for doing this, but, after a short period of time, they pulled out about 60 ounces of gold at about 52 feet below ground. Barker's claim turned out to be the richest in the area and the settlement of Barkerville was set up around his claim. He pulled out roughly 37,500 oz of gold in his life. It was also said that Billy Barker smoked as much as 30 cigarettes a day, finding it hard to deal with the stress of having that much gold, and the progressive symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

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