On 23 May 1959 the Perthshire Advertiser included a death notice for James Barbour (66) 26 Victoria Street ex-Bailie; former milkman death (20.5.1959); husband of Christina Barbour. and the following obituary:
‘Ex-Baillie James Barbour, 26 Victoria Street, who was the only Communist ever elected to Perth Town Council died on Wednesday after a long illness. Aged 66, he served on the council for a total of twelve years, three of them as a magistrate. Elected in 1928, he resigned three years later but re-entered civic life in 1935. He was appointed to the bench in 1941 and served for a further three years before finally resigning. Ex-Baillie Barbour served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War and worked as a milk rounds man with the City of Perth Co-operative Society Limited for about thirty years. Before retiring just over a year ago he was employed as a garage mechanic with Frew & Company Limited. He is survived by his wife and son’.
Barbour was elected in 1935 for the Second Ward and re-elected in 1938.