Frederick Barnfather was born in Weetslade, Northumberland, to William, a ticket collector with the local railway company (formerly a railway porter).

By the time he entered the school in 1908, both his parents had died (his father, William, early in 1903, and his mother, Annie, early 1907). He was living with his older brothers and sister when he left the school in June, 1911, to work in the Civil Service.

He joined the volunteer Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles, part of the London Regiment, and was killed in action on 8-Dec-1917.

He is buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, just north of the old city of Jerusalem and next to the Hebrew University.