Billy Barker was born in Cambridgeshire, England. He is first mentioned by name in British Columbia on a Free Miners License he obtained in Lillooet in 1859 along with 6 other Englishmen. On August 17, 1862, Billy made the biggest strike of the Cariboo Gold Rush. Barkerville, the gold rush boom town, was named after him. The names of a mountain and a creek in the Horsefly Lake region are also named after Billy Barker. He died in poverty in Victoria.