Little is known about Billy Barker, and this lack of information has contributed, at least in part, to some inaccuracies by historians.

Most writers have referred to Barker as a “Cornishman.” However, according to the diary of Bishop George Hills, Barker was from March, Cambridgeshire in Norfolk, England, and not Cornwall. He was a boatman working on the river from Cambridge to Lynn. According to Hill’s diary, Barker was originally sent to America by the railroad, having left behind a wife and daughter, Emma.

Some evidence suggests that Barker worked for a time in the California goldfields before making his way to Victoria. There has been much speculation that he “jumped ship” in Victoria. However, there is no evidence to substantiate this, and it is more likely that Barker was merely one of the thousands of miners attracted by the lure of gold.

Barker prospected the Fraser River in 1859 and 1860 before returning to Victoria. In 1861, he was arrested on a charge of threatening to stab a Mr. Townsend at the Victoria Hotel. Newspaper reports provided no details of the incident, stating only that Barker had been released on his own cognizance. Just why Barker pulled a knife on Townsend will never be known. What is known, however, is that the short, heavily-built, 41-year-old ex-sailor with his bushy beard and bowed legs had a temper unbefitting his size.

Barker, tiring of his time in Victoria, joined the hordes of miners headed to the Cariboo. He stopped along the way at Cedar Creek near Likely, and next to a shaft sunk by Jack Edwards, where he operated his Aurora claim for a while.

Barker then moved on to Williams Creek where he arrived in 1861. Most of the better ground had already been staked, but Barker did try his luck on two claims which were obviously unproductive, and Barker had little option but to try his luck below the canyon.

Ned Stout was one of the first to venture below the canyon, and at the mouth of the canyon which now bears his name, he found his gold. Stout’s Gulch gave Barker the clue he needed. Forming the Barker Company with seven other Englishmen {Chas Hankin, A. Anderson, H. Gabel, R. Dexter, S. Travers, R. Goldsworthy and W. Greenwood.} Barker staked his claim on August 13, 1862. The other miners in the area found it quite amusing, telling Barker there was no gold below the canyon, but Barker refused to give in and built a shafthouse and started sinking a shaft.

Having gone broke once before, the current Barker Company was grubstaked by Judge Mathew Begbie, who reasoned it would be less expensive to help them with their claim then pay their way out of the Cariboo. Now, as the 40 and 50 foot levels of barren gravel were reached and passed, it seemed that their funds would run out once again.

And then it happened. On August 21, 1862, at the 52 foot level, Barker struck the richest paydirt anybody had ever seen. A pan yielded $5; a foot of gravel $1,000; and the claim was destined to yield $600,000. The miners who had laughed at Barker earlier, now stopped only long enough to grab their tools and stake the area below the canyon.

Now a prosperous businessman, Barker decided to spend the winter of 1862-63 in Victoria. While there he met and married Elizabeth Collyer. Heading back to Barkerville with his new bride, it was rumored that Barker spent lavishly in order to keep his wife’s affections, for when the money ran out, Elizabeth would be on her way.

According to the Victoria Colonist of May 22, 1865, however, Elizabeth did not leave her husband. She died in Victoria on May 20, 1865, and there is no evidence of any estrangement before that time.

However, Barker was soon broke. Although a good percentage of his gold went to the saloon bars, he nevertheless was generous in grubstaking other prospectors. Barker felt certain that he could strike it rich once again. Prospectors up and down the creek owed him money that he was unable to collect. In desperation, he took a job as a cook on the government. However, Barker’s troubles were not over. A sore appeared on his lower lip appeared which refused to heal, and on July 11, 1894, a broken man, Billy Barker died of cancer in the Old Man’s Home in Victoria. He was 75.

Barker was buried in a pauper’s unmarked grave in Victoria’s Ross Bay Cemetery. In July, 1962, 100 years after he had struck it rich on Williams Creek, 50 old-timers and dignitaries attended a ceremony during which a new headstone was placed on Billy’s grave.

Ross Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada. Ross Bay Cemetery is 27.5 acres in size with approximately 28,000 grave sites. It is the final resting place for many of the historical figures of British Columbia including Sir James Douglas, Robert Dunsmuir, Emily Carr, Judge Mathew Bailie Begbie (The Hanging Judge from BC’s Gold Rush Era) as well as Billy Barker.