Thomas Wilkes Barker was Christopher Barker's son and was apprenticed to William Fearn. Father & son entered their mark as partners on 11th October 1800, a partnership that appears to have lasted until 7th February 1805 when Thomas Wilkes Barker entered a mark on his own, (see CB TB).Thomas Barker worked for some time on his own entering several different marks. His last mark was entered on 1^st December 1819.

As with the silver sugar tongs made with his father, Thomas’s sugar tongs are all plain, “old English” style with nothing to distinguish them from other makers of the period. This reflects the general trend towards making plain silver sugar tongs from this period onwards. The dates of the sugar tongs range from early 1805 to 1815.