In 1886, he was employed to complete lighting installations at Parliament House and the Government Printing Office in Brisbane before resigning in 1888 to go into business with C. F. White.

This partnership began supplying electricity to the public from their Edison Lane premises by means of a direct-current generator driven by a steam-engine.

Barton then formed the Brisbane Electric Supply Co. Ltd and within a few years had moved from Edison Lane to new premises in Ann Street where in 1901 he installed the first steam turbine in the state.

[4] Barton had a close association with the Brisbane Central Technical College and in a private capacity ran courses with lectures which paralleled the rapid advances in all matters electrical at the time.

[5] In July 1891 he gave a lecture at the Brisbane School of Arts on the topic of induction coils, a key component of wireless and X-ray technology.

[6] In April 1899 he gave a comprehensively reported lecture on Wireless Telegraphy at the Technical College and concluded with a demonstration of "Marconi apparatus" including both an induction coil and a Branly detector.