Philip Richmond Barbour was born on South Rodney Street in Helena, Montana, April 23, 1900, the second son of Dr. George Hauser Barbour and Susan Raleigh Barbour.

Dr. Barbour had come to Montana in 1887, at the urging of his mother's brother, Samuel T. Hauser, Montana pioneer, governor, and businessman. Dr. Barbour became one of Helena's most respected physicians, treating many of the most prominent people of the city, as well as serving for forty years (1887-1927) as physician for the East Helena smelter. Dr. Barbour also invested in mines in Rimini and Wickes and was a member of the prestigious Montana Club.

After graduating from Helena High School, Philip Barbour enlisted in the Marines in 1918, but World War I was over before he had completed his training. Philip was nominated to West Point and studied there for one year. He then transferred to the University of Washington at Seattle where he also spent one year. After working as a salesman for Enamel Products, Inc., in Cleveland, Ohio, for three years, Barbour returned briefly to a military career as a member of a mounted guard known as the Black Horse Troop.

In 1925, Barbour invested in Miami Beach, Florida, real estate. When his Florida venture failed, Barbour returned to Helena to help his father in his Rimini mining properties. He first worked for the Valley Forge Mining Company. In November 1927, Barbour joined with S.T. Hauser, Jr., Edmond G. Toomey, and George Norman Slade to form Montana Lead, Inc., to develop the Rimini property for lead and arsenic. Montana Lead took over the properties of the former Red Mountain and Valley Forge companies, both of which had been owned by George Barbour and others, and the Lee Mountain Mine which had been operated primarily by C. Walter Geddes. The company operated during the 1930s with varying success until it was sold at sheriff's sale in 1938.

A few years after his father's death in 1942, Barbour left Montana to settle in the East. He founded Southern Minerals, Inc., in North Carolina. Throughout his life, Barbour was interested in Montana history, especially as it related to Samuel T. Hauser. He did considerable work on a planned history of Montana, written around the life and work of Hauser. He also did research on the history of the Montana Club. In 1931, Philip Barbour married Marion Holter, daughter of Norman B. Holter. They had two sons, James Anton and Philip J., born in 1938 and 1939, respectively. Barbour died July 14, 1955, in Martinsville, Virginia.