The Ballad of Billy Barker

While at Ross Bay Cemetery last week it occurred to me to check out a subject long of interest to me: Billy Barker, the namesake for Cariboo’s Barkerville.

I had to smile—Billy’s an RBC ‘star,’ having an end-of-the-row marker denoting his final resting place. Better yet, he has a handsome and expensive bronze marker giving a brief biography. What a far cry from the time of his death in Victoria’s Old Men’s Home for indigents. Billy’s grave is in the Potter’s Field section of the cemetery which he shares with other penniless wards of the state.

Mind you, it’s prime waterfront with a sweeping view of Juan de Fuca Strait and the Olympic Mountains.

The man who made a king’s fortune, married unwisely and blew it all, left us, besides a great story and his Mainland namesake, this line from the song he liked to sing: “Go away girls or I’ll tousle your curls...”

It sums up Billy to a T.

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PHOTO: Barkerville, B.C., named for the inimitable Billy Barker who made and spent a fortune. At least he had a good time while it lasted. His later years weren’t as happy. —BC Archives