John Barnsley was born in Birmingham, England, and immigrated to British Columbia in the 1880s. He ran a sporting goods store in Victoria and was later the secretary-manager of the Boscowitz Steamship Company. When that company was bought out by the Union Steamship Company in 1910, he was appointed agent at Prince Rupert, effectively the Union Steamship northern manager. He became assistant manager of the firm in 1917 and manager from 1920 to 1924. John Barnsley died in Vancouver at the age of 67.