William Swinden Barber FRIBA (29 March 1832 – 26 November 1908), also W. S. Barber or W. Swinden Barber, was an English Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts architect, specialising in modest but finely furnished Anglican churches, often with crenellated bell-towers. He was based in Brighouse and Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. At least 15 surviving examples of his work are Grade II listed buildings, including his 1875 design for the Victoria Cross at Akroydon, Halifax. An 1864 portrait by David Wilkie Wynfield depicts him in Romantic garb, holding a flower. He served in the Artists Rifles regiment in the 1860s alongside Wynfield and other contemporary artists. Background Ancestors Barber's great-great-grandfather was Joshua Barber. Joshua was the ancestor of three main branches of the West Yorkshire Barber family: at Southowram, Brighouse and Rastrick. William Swinden Barber was descended from the Southowram branch, and he produced work at Brighouse and Rastrick. Joshua's second child, baptised at Cleckheaton Independent Chapel, was John (1727–1810) who was William Swinden Barber's great-grandfather. John married Sarah Schofield and their seventh child was William. Barber's grandfather was William Barber (1768–1844), baptised at the same chapel. He arrived at Halifax from Mirfield around 1797 when he married Ann Charlton of Dewsbury. They had eight children, of whom John was the third. They moved to Barker Royde at Southowram and lived in an eighteenth-century farmhouse called Barker Royde Farm; it incorporates a stone on which is carved "WB 1849." Close to the farmhouse, William built a four-storey mill called Barker Royde Mill, to make carding equipment and belting for the mechanised woollen industry. This mill was constructed during William Swinden Barber's childhood, when he would have witnessed and possibly been inspired by the works. The 1841 census finds William Barber at Barker Royde Farm, aged 75 with his wife Mary aged 70 and his daughter Sarah aged 30. William and his wife are described as being of independent means. They have two employees with them: an agricultural labourer and a servant. Barber's father was John Barber (1800–1883). On 19 April 1831 he married Sally "Sarah" Swinden (1793–1881) at Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. William Swinden Barber was their only child. In 1841 he was at Valley Top at Southowram with his wife Sarah; both are listed in the Census as 40 years of age and John is described as independent. Ann Barber, aged 25, described as a servant, is