Samuel Barber

Samuel Barber (1738?–1811), was an Irish Presbyterian minister. He is best known for the way in which he threw himself into the political and ecclesiastical struggles of his time. Charles Teeling considered him "one of the first and boldest advocates of the emancipation of his country and the union of all her sons."

Early life Barber was a native of County Antrim. He was the younger son of John Barber, a farmer near Killead. He entered Glasgow College in 1757, was licensed 1761 (on second trials 28 August at Larne) by Templepatrick presbytery, and ordained by Dromore presbytery, 3 May 1763, at Rathfriland, County Down, where he ministered until his death. He was a good Latinist, Tacitus being his favourite author; his Greek was thin; he was somewhat given to rabbinical studies, having collected a small store of learned books on this subject. Montgomery assigns to him "a singularly vigorous mind, a cultivated taste, a ready wit, a fluent elocution, a firm purpose, an unsullied character, and a most courteous demeanour."

Barber died 5 September 1811, in his seventy-fourth year.

Family In 1771 Barber married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Rev. Andrew Kennedy, of Mourne, and had seven children, but no son survived him. His daughter Margaret, (12 August 1782 – 21 May 1875), married John Galt Smith, of Belfast. George Kennedy Smith, his son, was left Barber's portrait and manuscripts.

Publications Barber wrote:

Funeral Sermon for the Rev. George Richey (Job xxxiv. 15), Newry, 1772. Volunteer Sermon (2 Sam. xiii. 28), 1782 (a very spirited piece, under apprehension of foreign invasion). Remarks on a Pamphlet … by Richard, Lord Bishop of Cloyne, Dublin, 1787. Synodical Sermon at Lurgan (Rev. xviii. 20), 1791 (reckons the Nicene council as the beginning of the reign of Antichrist, and the French Revolution as the omen of its fall). Nos. 2 and 4 appear to have been published, but were also circulated in manuscript.