Born in Stuttgart, Germany on 22 February 1844 to Charles Cutts Barton and Emelia Ann Hastings Barton, he was educated at Eton College and he purchased his commission as an ensign on 30 October 1862 and posted to the 1st Battalion which was at the time stationed in Firozpur, Punjab, India. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1865. In 1890 he married Beryl Marie Baskerville Mackenzie and they had 3 children; Philip Geoffrey 1891, Charles Henry 1893 & Joanna Katherine 1894.
At the outbreak of the Zulu War in 1879 Captain Barton was initially sent over with an appointment on the general staff but later was put in command of the 4th Battalion, Natal Native Contingent where was present at the Battle of Gingindlovu and he gained a promotion to Brevet Major. After the war he returned to England and attended Staff College, he was promoted to major by his regiment in July 1881 and passed out of the college in December.
At the outbreak of the Second Boer War, Major General Barton joined General Sir Redvers Buller's Natal Field Force in command of the 6th Brigade. Buller's first objective was the Relief of Ladysmith, to which end he moved his army up from Cape Town via Pietermaritzburg to Frere, just south of the Tugela River, the north of which the Boers had placed their defensive line. During the first attempt to cross the Tugela at the Battle of Colenso, Barton's Brigade were in reserve but when the attackers were forced to withdraw, Barton cautiously chose not to send support. Next, Buller tried to turn the Boers' right flank by sending the bulk of his army to the west and attacking Spion Kop whilst Barton was left to entrench at Chieveley to protect the head of the communications line. A third attempt to cross the Tugela at Vaal Krantz also failed. The Battle of the Tugela Heights was a series of battles fought initially to the south but then across the north banks of the Tugela river. Once Hussar Hill had been captured by Dundonald's Mounted Brigade and Lyttelton's4th Infantry Division had taken Cingolo Hill, Barton's brigade moved to capture Green Hill whilst Hildyard's Brigade captured the height of Monte Cristo. On 27 February, Barton's Brigade attacked Pieters Hill behind a creeping artillery barrage and was rapid at first until they moved out of observation range of the field artillery and the Boers having reinforced, the attack stalled. Fortunately for the British, the rest of the general movement was taking its toll on the Boers and they were forced to abandon the heights, clearing the way for the relief of Ladysmith on 1 March. Barton was injured during the action on 27 February. After Ladysmith and Mafeking had been relieved, Major General Barton was sent to the Weston Transvaal, where he commanded in the Krugersdorp and Pretoria districts until the end of the war in early June 1902. He left Cape Town on the SS Canada and returned to Southampton in late July 1902. For his service in the war, he was mentioned in despatches, and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
Later life
Geoffrey Barton retired from the British Army in August 1904 and settled in Craige, Dumfrieshire, Scotland where he took an interest in local affairs, the Red Cross Society and the Boy Scout Movement. He died on 8 July 1922 aged 78.
