After the death of his first wife in childbirth (1898), Harry and his sons leave Spallumcheen, B.C. and return to Port Dover to be close to relatives. They reside at Riverbank Cottage on Bridge Street for thirteen years, and he remarries in 1906. He begins his diary upon acquiring a 120-acre farm, northeast of town, in 1911. He is in frequent contact with his brother Hubert and his children who move into Riverbank Cottage. All hands work to make the farm a success.  

Learn more about Harry in his son Toby’s diaries and his sister Alice’s diaries Hobnobbing with a Countess and Other Okanagan Adventures: The Diaries of Alice Barrett Parke, 1891-1900, ed. by Jo Fraser Jones (UBC Press, 2001). 

Harry Barrett with first wife, Nonah, and children: Dick (standing) and Toby (sitting), c. 1898, British Columbia   

Courtesy of the Barrett Family Collection