John Dougherty Barbour was born on the 3rd March, 1824 in Lisburn. He was the eldest son of William Barbour who owned a Linen Thread Company, in Hilden.

As the firm expanded John became a senior partner with his father William. With John’s effort in the company it expanded to other regions of the globe. At this time, there where mills compressing linen at Hilden, Sprucefield and Dunmurry, with other offices in Belfast. In addition there was a mill at Ottensen, near Hamburg. In 1852 the American Branch of firm was founded by Thomas Barbour, the fifth son of William, in a loft exchange in New York City. As more mills in United States opened at Patterson in 1864, New Jersey, it added to the mills that already had been established in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Baltimore. However, the headquarters for all these offices was at Hilden. All this was possible due to the fact of Williams’s close family, with seven sons and six daughters.

John Barbour succeeded as Chairman and Managing Director of William Barbour & Sons. The crowning achievement of his life was the formation of the Linen Thread Co. Ltd. in 1898. John’s idea was for other Linen Thread makers to come into this idea as it would eliminate price – curring and unite other Linen Thread Companies. John Barbour had an important position in society. He was Deputy Lieutenant for County of Antrim for many years, High Sheriff of County Down in 1892 and County Antrim 1896. He was elected in 1863 the Parliamentary representative for Lisburn, but was afterwards unseated on petition. The town of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire elected him as Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa in 1891 and he had a residence in Hilden. John Dougherty Barbour died in 1901. There are no longer any of the Barbour family in the firm, however the Barbour name is still to the fore. The firm was bought over in 1979 by the Hanson Trust and is now guided by other men.