Buttons: Private Arthur Connor Barrett, NSW Contingent to the Soudan (Sudan)

General Service Button and unidentified button.

Arthur Conner Barrett was born on 4 May 1863 in Towrang, New South Wales. In February 1885 he was accepted as fit for service in the New South Wales contingent for service in Sudan. The contingent comprising an infantry battalion, artillery battery and field ambulance, 770 men in total, had been raised in response to an offer made by the colony to Britain, following the death of General Charles Gordon in Khartoum. Barrett set sail from Sydney on 3 March, on board the SS Iberia. Members of the contingent, including Barrett, departed in a scarlet tunic and navy trousers. Their field service uniforms from Britain were to be waiting for them upon arrival at their destination. They arrived in Aden on 27 March, where the men were permitted to each send a ten word telegram back home. Two days later they arrived at Saukin in the Sudan.

On 2 April the infantry battalion was attached to the Guards Brigade and began an expedition to the village of Tamai. The next morning they formed a square and continued their march for the final few miles. After some minor altercations, they arrived at the village to find the wells dry and the enemy mostly withdrawn to the surrounding hills. They burned the village before withdrawing. Three of the NSW men were wounded during the brief action.

Much of the contingent's remaining time in Sudan was spent working on the railway and on guard duty. On 17 May they departed for home. Five days after their arrival in Sydney they were given a welcome home parade and a reception at Victoria Barracks. On 26 June Barrett, and eight other men from the Goulburn area, arrived home. At the train station they were met by a large crowd and given a warm welcome that included a march through the streets and a ball held in their honour.

Barrett worked as a tailor after his return, while maintaining a membership of the local reserve rifle club. He married Emma Richardson on 14 May 1890, with the couple eventually having six children. In 1895 he was elected onto the Goulburn Borough Council, in a seat he would hold until 1908. In 1897 he was commissioned an officer of E Company of the 6th Infantry Regiment (Australian Rifles), which was based in Goulburn, but an altercation with a fellow officer led to his removal in 1898. Barrett served as Mayor of Goulburn in 1902. In 1909 he moved to Marrickville in Sydney, to work for the NSW Railways. He died on 8 September 1949.