 Barker was born the second daughter and youngest child of Walter Barker , a partner in a seed supply company and an amateur artist , and his wife Mary Eleanor ( Oswald ) Barker on 28 June 1895 at home at 66 Waddon Road in Croydon , Surrey , England . Barker was an <unk> as a child , and cared for at home by her parents . Later , her sister and elder by two years , Dorothy Oswald Barker , continued the care . 
