George Henry Barker was born in Long Eaton 1877. His parents, George and Mary Elizabeth were from Loughborough, but had moved to Long Eaton in the 1870s, where George senior was a lace-maker. Their children (all born in Long Eaton) were:
James William abt 1876
George Henry abt 1877
Arthur Fisher abt 1880
Gertrude Elizabeth abt 1884
Frederick W abt 1888
Ethel Josephine abt 1890
Percy Walter beamer 1891
Francis Maud abt 1895
George Henry and his brothers and sisters also worked in the lace trade. In 1891 the family were living at 12 Princess St, Long Eaton. In 1901 George and Arthur were living with James William and his wife at their house in Grange Road, whilst the rest of the family were still in Princess St.
In Sep 1903 George married Mary Jane Wragg at Long Eaton parish church. They moved to 2 Oakland Avenue, New Sawley and later had a daughter. By 1911 his parents and younger siblings were at 172 Station Road. By now George snr was running his own lace business.
In Dec 1915 George Henry signed up for the Leicestershire Regiment at Derby; but he wasn’t mobilised until Nov 1916. He joined 11th (Service) Battalion (Midland Pioneers), Leicestershire Regiment. The pioneers were intended to supplement the Royal Engineers with skilled labour and to relieve the front line infantry from some of its non-combatant duties.
He served in France from Feb 1917 to Feb 1918. While on leave in Feb 1918 he was committed to hospital in Carrington and didn’t return to France until the end of April. He rejoined his battalion in the field on 3rd May, during the German offensive. We don’t know where or when he was injured but he died on 28th May and was buried at Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No.3, in an area occupied by British field hospitals to the west of Ypres. He was 41. Mary and their daughter were given a pension of 20/5 a week.