George Barker (1776–1845) was a solicitor in, and a benefactor to, Birmingham, once a town in Warwickshire (and now a city in the West Midlands county), in England.
He exerted himself with great energy to extend the advantages of the General Hospital, on behalf of which he was one of the chief promoters of, and a long-standing chairman of the committee of, the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, until ill health forced his retirement in 1843.
[2] He was the founder of the now defunct Birmingham Philosophical Institution, and by his lectures on chemistry gave a considerable impetus to certain special manufactures.
The carriage and bearing of the figure are calm and composed; and, on more careful examination, we are surprised to find ourselves captivated, and even enthralled, by a whole, the parts of which seem studiously to avoid rather than to encourage observance.
If Mr. Hollins had not already deserved well of his native town by other distinguished works in sculpture, and by his activity and zeal in the establishment and maintenance of a Midland School of Art, this work alone would have associated his name with the recollections of Florence and Birmingham.The bust was subsequently placed in the General Hospital, and was later reported as being with a now-defunct firm of Birmingham solicitors, Lee, Crowder and Co, with which Barker was connected.