Vernon West Barford was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 photographer, musician, organist, choirmaster and teacher. Barford, nicknamed "Man of Many Talents," was born in Crowthorne

Crowthorne

Crowthorne is also a suburb of Johannesburg, South AfricaCrowthorne is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire. It has a population of 6,711...

 in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He began piano lessons at four and attended the choir school of Worcester Cathedral from 1887-92. Having failed entrance exams to Oxford University, he moved to Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, is a small village and formerly in ecclesiastical terms a city, with considerable historic significance located on Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline, some east of the provincial capital of Regina.Qu'Appelle was for a time the terminus of the...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and began to farm. After a year, he began to teach piano. Later in 1900,
Barford became the organist/choirmaster for All Saints Church

All Saints' Anglican Cathedral (Edmonton)

All Saint's Anglican Cathedral is the cathedral serving the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, which covers central Alberta. It serves as the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Edmonton, currently The Right Reverend Dr. Jane Alexander.-Building:...

 (now Edmonton Cathedral) when he moved to Edmonton, Alberta. In the 1924-1925 season, Barford was the conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country...

 and many other orchestras, concert bands and concerts. Examples include the Edmonton Amateur Operatic Society, Robert Planquette

Robert Planquette

Jean Robert Planquette was a French composer of songs and operettas.Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, including Les cloches de Corneville , the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of musical theatre up to that time, and Rip...

's The Chimes of Normandy, Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...

, The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...

, University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

 Glee Club, and the Mendelssohn Chorus of Edmonton. Barford served 1907-14 as the first president of the Edmonton Musicians' Union. He was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College

St. John's College, University of Manitoba

St John's College is a small Anglican college located on the University of Manitoba campus in Winnipeg, Canada. It is home to the Institute for Anglican Ministry, a ministry of the Diocese of Rupert's Land that seeks to train Anglican lay people.-History:...

, Winnipeg, in 1950. In 1967, Vernon Barford Junior High School, Edmonton, was named posthumously in his memory.