Andrew Barr was born in Scotland, the eldest of 14 children. The family immigrated to South Australia in 1874, where Andrew married Rosetta Gilbert in 1877.

He became a prosperous farmer and invented a "jumping scarifier" which took many prizes at agricultural shows and was widely used in South Australia. He also invented a stump jump cultivator in 1880, which won first prize in a competition in 1880.

His greatest invention was the world's first disc plough, which he first used in 1885. He improved the prototype disc plough to the point where he was able to sign a contract for its manufacture in 1892, but before any disc ploughs could be built, the firm became bankrupt in Australia's worst economic depression, which had already forced Andrew off his farm.

He became an agricultural labourer and in 1897 decided to try his luck in Western Australia.

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