John Barnett (1837-1905) was born in Stepney, Middlesex, England, on 21 February 1837, the son of John Barnett (Senior) (1810-1858), Grocer and Sugar Refiner and Ann Eliza Winkworth (1807-1842).¹ In December 1859, John married Janet Gowanlock Smith (1840-1927) at Waverley, Sydney, and they were to have eight children, four of whom lived to adulthood.

John’s parents, together with his 6-year-old sister Elizabeth and his 3-year-old self, had emigrated from England to Sydney in New South Wales (NSW), arriving on the Ann Gales on 12 July 1840. His mother, Ann Eliza, died not long after they arrived in Sydney, and John Snr married Janet Scot Smith (1826-1872) in 1843. The family had been sponsored by William Knox Child as part of Child’s attempt to set up a sugar refining business in NSW. The Ann Gales had on board the Child family and other sponsored workers in the sugar trade,² a steam engine, sugar house plant and machinery for the Australian Sugar Company.³ This was a serious attempt at commencing a ‘sugar trade’ business in the Colony of NSW, and Child had invested some £20,000 in this project.

A sixty-acre site was chosen at the Cook’s River on Robert Campbell’s Canterbury Estate, and a mill was constructed there, and a town was built for the workers.⁴ By late 1842, sugar had been refined and was ready for market. It was reported that ‘this company is now in operation and will be enabled to supply the whole of the Australian Colonies with refined sugar at the following prices … ’.⁵  A dispute soon broke out among the partners, which threatened the viability of the company. Then, in 1843, Edward Knox took over as manager, and the company prospered, becoming known as the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) in 1855.⁶