Barnard and his wife Sarah arrived in Melbourne on the Red Jacket in August 1856. By 1857 he had started a partnership with Stephen Peaty as bakers and confectioners in Collingwood, but this was dissolved in April 1860.

Barnard conducted his bakery and confectionery on the corner of Peel and Cambridge streets. At first he worked from a rented wooden shop, but soon acquired the property and constructed three brick shops. In a rather unusual combination, he also opened a pub, called simply Barnard’s Hotel.

Mrs Barnard died in 1899 and the couple was childless. On Barnard’s death the hotel and shops were bequeathed to his housekeeper Ann Dougherty, who shortly afterwards married James Condon. The couple continued the hotel and bakery business until 1914.

The former hotel and adjacent shops, still known as Barnard’s Buildings, form a pleasing example of bi-chrome brickwork. This is a building style for which the Collingwood Slope is noted

The Argus, The Mercury

Barnard's Hotel