Registrars

Henry Ebenezer Barff CMG

Henry Ebenezer Barff CMG was Registrar of the University of Sydney from 1882 to 1924 and Fellow of Senate from 1924 to 1925.

Profile

(1857 - 1925)
MA
Registrar: 1882 - 1924 (Registrar and Librarian, 1893 - 1914; Warden and Registrar, 1914 - 1924)
Fellow of Senate: 1924 - 1925

Henry Ebenezer Barff, University Administrator, was born on 9 July 1857 at Tahaa Island, Society Islands.

The family came to Sydney in 1865. He was educated at Camden College and in 1873 went to the University of Sydney (BA, 1876; MA, 1882) where he won the (Solomon) Levey and the (Thomas) Barker scholarships and graduated with the University Prize (Medal), in mathematics.

He then became master of studies and in 1879 an assistant examiner and acting lecturer in mathematics.

In 1880 he was acting Registrar and was confirmed as Registrar in 1882. He was also titular librarian in 1893-1914.

Barff compiled A Short Historical Account of the University of Sydney … (1902) to commemorate its golden jubilee. In 1913 he helped to reconstitute the Sydney University Union, of which he had been a founding member in 1874. Next year he contributed a descriptive article on the university to the Handbook of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for its Sydney session in 1914.

For over forty years Barff was the chief administrator, responsible to the Senate for all its aspects, except those within the province of the professors. In recognition of growing executive complexity in 1914 he added the office of Warden to that of Registrar, acquiring a general co-ordinating authority. In fact he had been steadily increasing the range of his responsibilities. In 1880 there were one teaching faculty, four professors and a handful of students; by 1924, when Barff retired, there were ten faculties, and over 3,000 undergraduates. The University had survived an economic depression and World War I, quadrupled its buildings, helped to bring about a transformation in secondary education and emerged as a major tertiary institution. Throughout, Barff retained close personal contact with staff and students and kept firm control of the entire administrative process. His complete dedication to the university made him a popular figure, while an impressive dignity of bearing earned him, in his later years, an awesome respect. When he left office it was found necessary to create the position of Vice-Chancellor. He was appointed CMG in 1923 and served briefly on the Senate in 1924-25.

He died of cerebro-vascular disease on 2 May 1925.

Information source: Australian Dictionary of Biography