The date of Barratt's conversion to Mormonism is unknown, but Latter Day Saint missionaries first preached in the Burslem area in 1839.
On 11 July 1840, apostle George A. Smith recorded in his diary that he had ordained the 17-year-old Barratt to the office of elder and had set him apart to preach as a missionary in Australia.
Barratt tried preaching in Australia, and was successful in baptizing a few people, but quickly became discouraged at the moral tone of the settlers there.
Although missionaries from the LDS Church arrived in Australia in 1851, there is no record of Barratt attempting to contact them or vice versa.
Barratt became a prominent land owner in the Bald Hills and Inman Valley areas of South Australia.