 He died at his brother's home in the Christchurch suburb of Redcliffs on 15 September 1942.The New Zealand cricketer Dan Reese considered Barton the first great New Zealand batsman.He singled out Barton's performance for the Wanganui XXII against the 1880-81 Australian XI, when he scored 44 out of the 85 required to win, against the bowling of Fred Spofforth, Harry Boyle and Joey Palmer, in a match in which 51 wickets fell for 266 runs.