John Barker was born in Sheffield in 1863.  In 1891 he was living in Abbeydale Road where, according to the census, he was an “Ivory fluter, bone”.  Four years later, in 1895 he started an electro-plate and cutlery manufacturing concern at the Lincoln Works, 38 Arundel Street, premises which had previously been used by Isaac Eyre until his death in 1863.

In 1901, he was living in Clough Road, Sheffield and listed as a cutlery manufacturer and employer and in 1905 was advertised as manufacturing silver and plated fruit knives, electro-plate and nickel silverware.  In 1911, he was living in Glenalmond Road and by 1914 was employing 40 men with showrooms in Fore Street, London and St. Enoch Square, Glasgow.  Specialities of the business included pearl handle fish and fruit knives.  He died in April 1940 aged 78.

In July 1909, John Barker’s eldest daughter Ellen married Harry Dixon a railway worker from Melbourne in Derbyshire.  Through this family line the company of John Barker and Dixon, Cutlery Manufacturer was incorporated in 1961.  Their headquarters are currently at Lincoln Works, Smithfield, Sheffield.  Use of the same name for their works seems unlikely to be a coincidence.