A. Trevor Barker
Alfred Trevor Barker (b. October 10, 1893- d. July 17, 1941) was a Theosophist, writer, and lecturer. He is well-known in the Theosophical world for his transcription, compilation and publication of the The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett and The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett.
Bio-data
A. Trevor Barker was born at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, on October 10, 1893. He married Virginia, also an active Theosophist, with whom he had four children.
Dr. Barker joined the Theosophical Society (Adyar), but resigned from this organization in 1925. During this time he transcribed and published The Mahatma letters to A. P. Sinnett. In 1926, he published The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett.
On July 30, 1930, he joins the Theosophical Society (Pasadena), soon becoming the President of its English Section for a number of years.[1] It was Dr. Barker who suggested London as the place to hold the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of H. P. Blavatsky's birth that Gottfried de Purucker was planning. On June 24, 1931, Dr. Barker chaired the Centennial Conference, which was well attended by leading representatives of the principal Theosophical Societies.
Dr. Barker was also editor of The English Theosophical Forum and instrumental for the edition of The Complete Works of H. P. Blavatsky begun by Rider & Company of London, in 1932.
By 1937 Dr. Barker's health was in a deteriorating condition. Mrs. Elsie Benjamin, secretary to Dr. de Purucker, met Barker at the time. She wrote:
All during that time Trevor was a very ill man, and his illness particularly taking the form of deep depression and excessive fatigue. . . .[2]
Owing to the very trying circumstances in England, Mrs. Virginia Barker and the four children left the country in the fall of 1940 and went to the USA, to the state of Washington.[3]
Dr. Barker died after a very brief illness on July 17, 1941, in Torquay, Devon, England. His writings were compiled into the book The Hill of Discernment by G. de Purucker. In the preface of that book he wrote:
With the death of A. Trevor Barker on July 17th of this year, the spontaneous wish was expressed by his many friends all over the world that his lectures and writings might be gathered together for publication in some permanent form. The present work, THE HILL OF DISCERNMENT, is an answer to this widespread desire. It contains in large part all the available addresses given in various parts of England, mainly to Theosophical groups and lodges, to European Conventions of the Theosophical Society, and to various 'fraternization' meetings with the Phoenix Lodge and other Lodges of the Adyar T. S. in England. [4]
The Mahatma Letters
Barker's most important contribution was the transcription, compilation, and publication of the The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett. Mr. Sinnett, recipient of many letters from the Masters known as Koot Hoomi and Morya, had died in 1921. His correspondence with the Mahatmas and with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky passed on to Maud Hoffman, executrix of the estate of Mr. Sinnett. Dr. Barker, who knew her by 1921[5] obtained her permission and support to transcribe these letters and publish them in book form. Grace Knoche wrote,
Just what prompted Trevor Barker to contact Maud Hoffman, executrix of the estate of the late A. P. Sinnett who had died in 1921, is not known. It is of record that the Mahatma as well as the Blavatsky letters had been bequeathed by Mr. Sinnett "solely and unconditionally" to Miss Hoffman, and that she in turn had allowed this young man the "great privilege of undertaking the whole responsibility" for their transcription and publication in book form.[6]
In 1923 he published in London The Mahatma letters to A. P. Sinnett from the Mahatmas M. & K. H. through T. F. Unwin ltd. In 1926 he published The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett.
One of Trevor's last actions was arranging for the depositing of the MSS. the The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett in the British Museum, in the Department of Select Manuscripts.[7]
Writings and Lectures
Dr. Trevor Barker's writings and lectures have been compiled in a book entitled The Hill of Discernment, published by The Theosophical University Press. This book provides information as to where and when the various lectures contained in that volume were given.
Connection with Gurdjieff's teachings
Maud Hoffman, A. P. Sinnett's legatee and Dr. Barker knew each other by 1921. According to James Moore they both became pupils of Ouspensky at 38 Warwick Gardens, Kesington, during the autumn of that year. In the autumn of 1922 they became residential pupils at Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, at Fontainebleau-Avon.[8]
Notes
- ↑ "In Memoriam." The Hill of Discernment. Point Loma, Calif.:Theosophical University Press, 1941.
- ↑ Michael Gomes, The Canadian Theosophist, Vol. 68 No. 5 (Nov.-Dec., 1987), 117.
- ↑ Anon., In Memoriam--A. Trevor Barker, Vol 19 No. 3 (Sep. 1941), p. 222
- ↑ "Compilers' Preface." The Hill of Discernment. Point Loma, Calif.:Theosophical University Press, 1941.
- ↑ James Moore, Theosophical History Vol.3 No. 3, (July 1990), 78.
- ↑ Grace Knoche, "Foreword to the Combined Chronology of Margaret Conger," [1]
- ↑ "In Memoriam." The Hill of Discernment. Point Loma, Calif.:Theosophical University Press, 1941.
- ↑ James Moore, Theosophical History Vol.3 No. 3, (July 1990), 78.
For Further Information
These books are available online: