Isaac Montgomery Barr was born in 1847 in Hornby, Ontatio, where his Irish father was a Presbyterian minister. His mother, who died when he was ten, had told stories of her family in Ireland. As a youth, Isaac visited his Donegal relatives, the Bairds, a proud, wealthy family steeped in pride of Empire.

After returning to Canada, Isaac became an Anglican priest and served many charges in Ontario, Western Canada and the United States. He was often in trouble with his superiors but avoided confrontation by withdrawing from each situation. During his life he married three times and at one point became an American citizen. Inspired by Cecil Rhodes' colonization schemes in Africa, Barr envisioned a settlement project of his own. For the glory of Empire he would organize some 500 British emigrants and bring them to the western prairies. He traveled to England to begin.

At the same time another Anglican priest, George Exton Lloyd was similarly inspired. In newspaper letters he encouraged Boer war veterans, the jobless and landless to immigrate to Canada. His letters brought a flood of inquiries. Eventually Barr and Lloyd met and joined forces although Lloyd did not intend to leave England.

Suddenly there were thousands of colonists instead of Barr's estimated 500. All facilities and supplies were hopelessly inadequate in spite of last minute juggling. As a consequence many things went wrong. The ship was crowded, food was poor, trains in St. John were late, baggage was lost and supplies were costly. Barr was blamed for everything. Rev. Lloyd, who joined the throng at the last moment, became the problem solver. At Battleford there was a confrontation. Lloyd assumed leadership and Barr, as usual, withdrew.

However, contrary to some accounts, he did visit the central town site of the colony, the one he had dreamed would be named Barrview, an allusion to his vision.  There, early on the morning of May 10, 1903, before a small knot of supporters and the curious, he raised the Red Ensign to mark the official completion of his monumental journey and the beginning of the new community.  Few communities have such a clear and distinct founding but the date is completely forgotten and the town was named to salute Barr's haughty rival, George Lloyd.

Barr's great dream was rewarded with bitterness and anger. His vision, however, was a noble one as time has shown. It was unfortunate he hadn't the business or administrative skills to accomplish the enormous task. Isaac Barr died in Cohuna, Australia in 1936.

Further Reading: All Silent All Damned – the Search for Isaac Barr by Helen Evans Reid