Life

Barker was the son of Augustin Barker of South Luffenham

South Luffenham

South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.The village lies largely on the north side of the A6121 road from Uppingham to Stamford. It is divided into two by a small stream, the Foss, which is a tributary of the River Chater...

 and Thomasyn Tryst of Maidford

Maidford

Maidford is a civil and eccesiastical parish in South Northamptonshire and the diocese of Peterborough situated about north-west of Towcester. The population is 179...

, Northants, and inherited the Lordship of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

 of Lyndon, Rutland

Lyndon, Rutland

Lyndon is a small village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.Thomas Barker of Lyndon Hall kept a detailed weather record from 1736 to 1798. William Whiston , best known for his translation of Josephus, died at the Hall, the home of his son-in-law, Samuel Barker on 22 August...

 by the bequest of his father's second cousin Sir Thomas Barker, 2nd Bt of Lyndon (1648-1706/7). Sir Thomas was a member of the 'Order of Little Bedlam' or Bedlam Club based at Burghley House

Burghley House

Burghley House is a grand 16th-century country house near the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England...

. Samuel entered Wadham College, University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 in June 1704 and took his B.A. on 13 February 1707/8. In 1717 Samuel married Sarah, only daughter of William Whiston

William Whiston

William Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...

, in whose memoirs he is mentioned. Their interests coincided closely, 'Wicked' Will Whiston being the translator-editor of Josephus

Josephus

Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

. Whiston in later life resided with Samuel at Lyndon Hall and died there. Samuel was the father of Thomas Barker (1722-1809), called 'The father of meteorology', and was therefore the father-in-law of Ann Barker née White, the sister of Gilbert White

Gilbert White

Gilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...

 of Selborne

Selborne

Selborne is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of Alton. It will be just within the extreme northern boundary of the proposed South Downs National Park, which is due to take effect in mid-2010....

. Gilbert White maintained correspondence with Samuel Barker junr. (grandson of Samuel), who like his great-grandfather Whiston attended Clare College, University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

.

Works

He wrote (in Latin) several learned tracts, which were collected and published (1761) in one quarto volume after his death, together with a Hebrew grammar, on which he had long been engaged. John Nichols

John Nichols (printer)

John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...

 said of it, 'This was a juvenile production - the produce of the ingenious Author's leisure hours.' It contained:

• Ancient Hebrew Poesy Restored
• On the Anacreontic songs
• On Greek accents
• Ancient Ionic writings
• On consonant and vowel letters
• On the pronunciation of the Hebrew language

He was the author of a letter, dated 7 November 1723, to Joseph Wasse, rector of Aynho

Aynho

Aynho is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley about southeast of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley...

, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, concerning a passage in the Sigean inscription, which may be found in the Biblioteca Literaria of Samuel Jebb

Samuel Jebb

-Life:He was born about 1694, probably at Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the second son of Samuel Jebb, a maltster. His eldest brother, Richard, settled in Ireland. Another brother, John, became dean of Cashel, and was father of Dr. John Jebb, the Socinian....

 and William Bowyer, No. 10 (1724).