Barton, F. R. (Francis Rickman), 1865-1947

Francis Rickman Barton was born on January 4, 1865, in Fundenhall, Norfolk, England.

He was a British Army Captain and colonial administrator who served in Sierra Leone and Barbados. In 1899, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Guinea, where he became the private secretary to the Governor from 1899 to 1900. He then served as the Commandant of the Armed Native Constabulary from 1900 to 1902, followed by his role as Resident Magistrate in the Central Division I from 1902 to 1904. He was the Administrator of New Guinea from 1904 to 1907, based in Port Moresby, and later became a Magistrate in 1903. He also served as the acting Administrator of Papua New Guinea from 1904 to 1907.

In April 1907, Barton took a leave of absence and resigned in April 1908. During his time in New Guinea in 1904, he met the British anthropologist Charles Seligman, who was part of the Cook Daniels expedition. Barton conducted field research for Seligman and contributed to his book, Melanesians of British New Guinea (1910).

After his resignation in 1908, Barton was posted to Tanzania as the first Minister of Zanzibar. In 1919, he donated 257 artifacts from Papua New Guinea to the British Museum, part of the Christy collection. An additional eight objects from Papua New Guinea were donated by Seligman or Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte, who served as Administrator of New Guinea from 1899 to 1903. The collection includes arrows, bows, lime spatulas, pottery vessels, axes, body ornaments, and tobacco pipes. Additionally, sixteen photographs taken by Barton in British New Guinea, nearly all depicting women in the Central Division with geometric body tattoos—reflecting Barton’s interest in an anthropological survey of tattooing—can be found in the British Museum Pictorial Collection.

In 1908, he married Santa Carla Tofft (1891–1961). He died on October 4, 1947, in Lustleigh, Devon, England.