Barton, Sir John George

Barton, Sir John George (1850–1937), engineer and surveyor, was born 13 October 1850 (possibly in Dundalk, Co. Louth), eldest son of James Barton (qv), a prominent engineer. John was one of the seven children of James Barton's first marriage, to Catherine Frances (née Golding; d. 1863); Mary Barton (qv) was the youngest. A further nine children were born after James Barton remarried. John Barton was educated at Repton School and King's College, London, then studied engineering with a London firm and with his father, who was consulting engineer to the Clogher Valley railway from 1883. Father and son were joint engineers on this latter project from 1883 to 1892; the son was also responsible for Castlederg light railway. Both men were frequently involved in litigation, especially with their contractors. John Barton served as advising engineer for the railways board of works from 1880, and was government arbitrator for several Irish railways. From 1892 to 1917 he was commissioner of valuation and chief boundary surveyor of Ireland; he was thus responsible for carrying out the very considerable boundary changes introduced by the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898. In recognition of his services, he was made CB in 1900 and knighted in 1902. He did not marry till 1916; his wife, Florence Emily (Grantham) Hamilton Smyth, a widow, predeceased him in 1933. Sir John Barton died in Hyères, France, on 20 March 1937.