Barbour Tomb and Railings

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Twentieth century free-standing pedimented neo-classical stone mausoleum, facing east with railed enclosure, set within the grounds of Lambeg Parish Church on the south side of Church Hill Road.

Granite ashlar up-standing mausoleum comprising three inscribed memorial plaques flanked by engaged Ionic columns on plinth blocks and supporting full dentilated and stepped entablature with open-top scrolled pediment and funerary urn. Architrave below the pediment is inscribed ‘BARBOUR’. Three inscribed plaques are set in an arcade arrangement with gilt lettering dating from the early to mid twentieth century. The mausoleum is mounted on a rock-faced basalt wall with stone coping (to the rear) and extends as a painted rendered wall to the front elevation supporting further stone and marble grave markers (of earlier dates). Polished memorial plaques lay within the enclosed space, enclosed by robust cast-iron railing with foliate heads set into low plinth wall with pedestrian gate.

Historical information

The Barbour tomb is the resting place of several generations of the Barbour family, starting with William Barbour (1797-1875) and his wife Eliza Kennedy.

The Barbours were engaged in the linen industry in Scotland and are known to have erected a hand loom linen factory near Paisley in 1739. By 1783 they are reputed also to have been engaged in linen thread manufacture, and were accustomed to travel to Ireland for the purpose of importing linen thread. In 1783 John Barbour (1755-1823) leased a property near Lisburn and by 1786 an industry known as Barbour’s Linen Thread was in full production. John’s son William Barbour (1797-1875) began twisting thread by power driven machinery and established a flourishing business in Hilden. He had seven sons and six daughters, five of the sons going into business. Three sons moved to America, two of these being involved in branches of the Barbour linen thread empire. By 1888, William Barbour & Sons Ltd ‘were entitled to be ranked as the largest manufacturers in the world of tailors’ thread and shoemakers’ thread for hand and machine sewing’. (Rankin, p.40-1)

The main part of the Barbour tomb is reserved for William’s sons John Doherty (1824-1901) and Samuel (1830-1875) and John Doherty’s children Sir John Milne Barbour (1868-1951) and Harold Adrian Milne (1874-1938). The eldest son, John Doherty Barbour DL JP, succeeded his father as Chairman and Managing Director of William Barbour & Sons and Samuel also joined the family business. John Doherty Barbour formed the Linen Thread Co. Ltd., in 1898 when he brought together the Irish, Scottish and American Barbour Companies. (Rankin, p.42)

The Right Hon. Sir J Milne Barbour DL MP (1868-1951) was created a Baronet in 1943. He had held many public offices in Northern Ireland and was a Minister in the Northern Ireland parliament for eighteen years, Minister for Commerce for sixteen of those years. He developed the Barbour interests in netting for salmon fishing and became Chairman and Managing Director in 1905. (Rankin, p.43)

References:

Secondary Sources

1.Rankin, K “The Linen Houses of the Lagan Valley, The story of their families” Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This mausoleum may have been inspired by the Wolfenden Tomb in the same cemetery, which pre-dates it by about 230 years. The classical design and scale of the memorial attest to the importance of the Barbour family, and like the Wolfenden family, their contribution to local industry and the greater prosperity of the Lisburn area. Whilst the main memorial is of relatively recent twentieth century date it has group value with Lambeg Parish Church and the Wolfenden Mausoleum and historical connection to the important Barbour family of industrialists.