Francis
Barber was born a slave on a plantation
in Jamaica in 1735. He was brought to England by his owner in 1750.
After a brief schooling at a village school in Yorkshire he entered
the service of his owner's son. Later he was hired out to Samuel
Johnson after
the death of his wife in 1752.
Barber worked as Johnson's valet until he ran away to sea in 1758.
For the next two years he served on the HMS
Stag in the North Sea. On his return in 1760 he rejoined
Johnson's staff. Barber worked as Johnson's butler but after attending
Bishop's Stortford Grammar School (1767-1772) he worked as his secretary.
Barber
married an Englishwoman and the couple had four children. Barber and
his family lived in Johnson's house. When Samuel
Johnson
died
in 1784 he left Barber a gold watch and an annual payment of £70.
Barber moved to Lichfield, Staffordshire, and later he became a schoolteacher
in Burntwood.
Francis
Barber died in 1801. His son, Samuel Barber (1785-1828), became a
Primitive Methodist preacher in Staffordshire.
