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Colonel Barton was born on 13th April 1852 in Charlton Musgrove in Somerset. His father was Charles Barton described in the 1861 census as a “landed proprietor and magistrate” farming 176 acres, and his mother was Dorothea Maria (nee Weymis). The large family of 5 daughters and 2 sons were living at Holbrook House and were being educated at home by a governess. There were, in addition, 7 servants.

At the time of the1871 census he was a gentleman cadet at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and joined the Cadet Company of the Royal Engineers in 1872 and held a temporary commission as a Lieutenant till this was made permanent in 1874. By 1878 he was in India based at Roorkee in Bengal and he took part in the 2nd Afghan War of 1878-9 where he commanded the 9th Company of the Bengal Sappers and Miners, being mentioned in despatches and receiving the campaign medal. He was in action again in 1883-4 when he went on the Akha Expedition where he was again mentioned in despatches. (The Akha are indigenous hill tribes that live in small villages at high altitudes in the mountains of Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Yunnan Province in China; it is not clear to me which part of this extensive region this Expedition penetrated). He was promoted to Captain in May 1884.

He was then quickly involved in the Burmese Expedition from 1885-7, commanding the 5th Company of the Bengal Sappers and Miners. They were involved in the operation that resulted in the capture of Mandalay. He then took command of Field Engineers on operations in the Yaw area of Northern Burma. He received the medal and a clasp for the two events and was mentioned in despatches twice. In September 1886 he elected to undertake continuous service in the Indian Army.

Having decided to stay in India in April1887 he married Harriet Brandreth daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Ashton Milnes Brandreth RE; Harriet had been born in Delhi in 1862. She gave birth to a daughter on March 12th 1889 at Naini Tal hill-station in the Himalyas but the child subsequently died (information from the 1911 census).

1891 saw Maurice’s promotion to Major and in1892 he was commanding the Royal Engineer contingent on the Isazai Expedition. This turned out to be a relatively swift punitive mission across the Indus to the Black Mountains in what is now Northern Pakistan to punish several villages of the Trans-Indus Isazai clans who were harbouring the outlawed Khan of Serai, contrary to an agreement they had signed previously. (NB: Note the name Serai which coincidentally was later the name of their house in Budleigh Salterton).

In 1895 he took part in the operations in Chitral, serving with the Relief Force, in charge of the Field Park Company, Royal Engineers, and was therefore responsible for all of the mechanical equipment needed on the expedition.  He was mentioned in Despatches and received the Medal and clasp.

He was then present in the operations on the North-West Frontier of India, 1897-98, in charge of the Field Park for the Malakand Field Force (5/5/97 to 5/1/98) and then with the Buner Field Force as Field Engineer (6/1/98 to 27/6/98) when he took part in the attack and capture of the Tanga Pass.  He was mentioned in Despatches, received a clasp, and “in recognition of services during the recent operations on the North-West Frontier of India” was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The Insignia were presented to him by the Queen at Windsor 1 July 1899. His promotion to Lieutenant Colonel had taken place in March 1899.

After 4 years service as a Lieutenant Colonel he received the Brevet of Colonel and was put on half pay in March 1904 on completion of five years' service as a Regimental Lieutenant-Colonel. He then retired on an Indian Army pension in January 1905 and he and his wife came to Budleigh Salterton and leased Serai in Smart’s Hill (now called Sherbrooke Hill) in September 1905. (The name Serai probably came from its oriental usage as meaning “an inn for travellers” rather than the name of the rebel mentioned above). He lived in the house till his death in 1939 apart from most of World War 1 when he and his wife volunteered the house in December 1914 for use as a VAD Hospital (Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital). The Bartons moved out to live at Green Bushes in Fountain Hill; this house was previously occupied by Major Hiley Addington and he advertised it for let until mid March 1915 when I assume he had agreed to the Bartons taking up residence just before the VAD hospital became active. Addington moved out because he had returned from retirement to re-join the Royal Rifle Regiment (in a non-combat role) on the outbreak of war, and he returned to Green Bushes after the war.

Mrs Barton had, prior to the war, been very engaged with Voluntary Aid work and had assisted in the formation of a Budleigh Salterton Detachment in 1911 following a proposal by Colonel Barton and Dr Semple at a public meeting in February 1910. She became its Commandant and trained the group for a possible emergency which duly came in August 1914. The hospital was then equipped and the staff trained over the next months, and it received its first casualties in May 1915 with the arrival of 2 cot cases and 8 of a more minor nature from several regiments. Mrs Barton was the Commandant of the hospital and assistant to the matron Miss E M Fergusson. Dr Semple was the Medical Officer.

During the war regular social events, film shows, and outings were organised for the ambulatory wounded, and collections and sales held for the comforts fund. Further information about the hospital can be seen at Fairlynch Museum in the current year’s exhibition and also in the Local History room.

During the war Colonel Barton acted as the military representative on the Budleigh Tribunal that heard appeals from local people who were asking for exemption from military service usually on the grounds that their local businesses would suffer if they went. One such case involved a man who ran the local laundry and therefore serviced the VAD hospital. His appeal was supported by Mrs Barton, and Colonel Barton was naturally not unsympathetic.

The hospital was demobilised in January 1919 but regrettably Harriet Barton died at Green Bushes after a short illness in March 1919. She had been Commandant of the VAD Hospital for the whole war and had an MBE conferred on her by the King in London in the spring of 1918, and was described in the citation as, since December 1914, having “given practically her whole life to the care of the wounded”. Her obituary in the Western Times stated that she was “beloved by the patients and staff. She was always kind and thoughtful for others, with a smile and cheery word for all, and always ready to help in any way.” Her name is inscribed on the Budleigh Salterton War Memorial.

Colonel Barton was joined in Budleigh at some stage by his sister Elizabeth Alethea Barton. He seems to have led a relatively quiet life and only appears in newspaper accounts when he attended the funerals of local military men or their wives. He had his house burgled in 1937 and money was stolen; the burglar was apprehended and charged with several other local burglaries plus stealing a car at Ladram Bay and was sentenced to two months in jail.

Colonel Barton died on 16th June 1939 and probate was granted to his sister. He left bequests to his brother Dennis and sister Lucy and the residue, plus his house, to Elizabeth. She sold the house to its original builder John Palmer, who lived there until 1965 (Clinton Devon Estates Lease Number 848). She herself had a house on the opposite side of Sherbrook Hill called Hedges.

Researched and written © Roger Lendon May 2014

Sources used for Colonel Barton’s military career included:

Canada, British Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900.
The London Gazette.
www.angloboerwar.com
lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/
Straits Times Weekly Issue, 27 September 1892, Page 579
Ancestry.com: UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949.
Other Sources:
Information on Serai and the VAD hospital came from local newspapers.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966.

BS-B-00067 Biography