Edward John Barker

Edward John Barker, (31 December 1799 – 27 April 1884), was born in England and lived in South Carolina for a time before returning to England and embarking on a career as a physician.

After a number of years in a successful practice of medicine in England, the Barkers emigrated to Upper Canada and settled in Kingston in 1832. In addition to his medical practice, Barker became interested in journalism. In 1834 he founded the then semi-weekly British Whig.

The newspaper, now the Kingston Whig-Standard, became the longest continually published newspaper in Canada.