Thrifty, shrewd, and enterprising, the Barber brothers, Joseph, Robert, William, and James, built up huge businesses in two locations. They are the real founders of both Georgetown, now part of the Town of Halton Hills, and Streetsville, now part of the City of Mississauga.

The Barber brothers were born on County Antrim in Ireland and immigrated to Niagara with their family in 1822. In 1824, their father had obtained work as a stonemason for James Crooks near what is now Dundas. The family moved to Crooks Hollow and the brothers began to learn the mill trade.

William, James, and Robert Barber

It took thirteen years for them to learn the ropes and to save enough money but at last in 1837 they were able to open their own mill. They decided that the Credit River was a suitable source of water, so they started at its mouth and worked their way upstream until they found the right spot. This happened to be near George Kennedy's old mill in Georgetown. They bought the land from George Kennedy and built their mill. They must have learned very well under James Crooks because in six years they opened a second mill. This mill was in Streetsville because Silver Creek in Georgetown could not provide enough power to drive all of their machinery. In another nine years, 1852, they had so much business that they built another mill in Streetsville to consolidate all of the wool mills into one place. The new mill contained all of the machinery from the previous two mills and added more.

So, in 1852, the old Barber mill in Georgetown closed. However, just after the old mill closed, James Barber helped David Forbes to build a brand-new, state-of-the-art, paper mill on the Credit River near Georgetown. After only a few months, Forbes decided for some reason that he could not keep the mill going, so James Barber risked his other businesses to buy Forbes out. That meant there was a new Barber mill in Georgetown. You can still see the Barber paper mill in Georgetown although it is now empty and disused. The mill is located on River Drive, just east of Mountainview Road.

Old Barber Paper Mill

In 1869, the partnership of William Barber & Bros. finally broke up. Joseph retired, Robert and William shared the Streetsville mill, and James operated the Georgetown mill.

You can also see a house built by William Barber in Streetsville; it is now a restaurant called The Old Barber House. You can read about it on the Internet at www.oldbarberhouse.com.

Willowbank, Joseph Barber's family home is located on Park Avenue. just east of Main Street.

Willowbank

Across Park Avenue from Willowbank, at the corner of Park Avenue and Main Street, is Berwick Hall, the house built by James Barber's son John R, to replace James' family home after it buirned down in 1881. It is now an apartment house. Both Willowbank and Berwick Hall look down the hill onto what used to be the old Barber mills at the bottom of the hill on Park Avenue. Nothing of these mills remains.

Berwick Hall

John R Barber