Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB FRS FRGS (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences.

The Barkly family had several connections with the West Indies: Barkly's mother, Susannah Louisa, whose maiden name was ffrith, was the daughter of a Jamaica planter; his father's company was concerned with trade in the West Indies; and the family owned an estate in British Guiana.

[2] According to the Legacies of British Slave-ownership database Barkly's father was compensated £132,000 from the Imperial Parliament for the emancipation of some 4,440 slaves in 1834.

He helped to implement responsible government in the Cape and worked closely with John Molteno, its first elected Prime Minister.

He served in South Africa until 1877, and played an important role in assisting the early growth of the Cape Liberal tradition.

He was also influential in supporting the local resistance against Lord Carnarvon's attempt to unite the region's states into a federation (inspired by the success of the Canadian Confederation).

Federation in 1875 would have produced the same results as Union did in 1910... Barkly was undoubtedly right to foster the nucleus of a Liberal party which was forming around Molteno.

[16][17] His oldest son Arthur Cecil Stuart Barkly (1843–1890) was his father's private secretary in Mauritius and the Cape, and went on to become the last British governor of Heligoland.

[2] Henry Barkly was awarded a Knight of the Order of the Bath on 18 July 1853, just prior to his appointment as Governor of Jamaica.