Difference between revisions of "John Barrow"

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Sir John Barrow was born in the English hamlet of Dragley Beck, near Lancashire, on 19 June 1764. As a schoolboy he excelled in Mathematics. He began his professional life the age of 13, when he worked as a clerk in an iron foundry in Liverpool.  He went to sea for the first time at the tender age of 16, joining a whaling expedition to Greenland.  Afterwards while still in his twenties he taught Mathematics for a time at a private school in Greenwich.  Through connections he made there, he was attached on the first British embassy to China from 1792-94.
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Sir [[John Barrow]] (1764-1848)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Barrow,_1st_Baronet] was an English explorer, geographer, diplomat and author.  
  
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In 1797, Barrow traveled to South Africa and explored its little-known interior where he drew much needed maps. His published accounts of these travels earned him fame as author, explorer and geographer.  He later worked as a diplomat in the Cape Colony. He married and settled in South Africa in 1800.
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He traveled to South Africa in 1797 as private secretary to Lord Macartney and was sent to the interior ,  "entrusted with the task of reconciling the Boer settlers and the native Black population and of reporting on the country in the interior" ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Barrow,_1st_Baronet]), drawing much needed maps. His published accounts of these travels, ''Travels into the interior of Southern Africa'' (volumes I and II, published by London, T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806). This work and his  many subsequent works made a great contribution to the geographical knowledge of time, earned him fame as author, explorer and geographer.  It is also a very useful source of incidental information about late 18th century culture and performance in Southern Africa, and has been used by Bosman, Fletcher, Juta and others. (The book was apparently also published in [[Dutch]] as ''Reizen in de Binnelanden van het Zuidelyk Deel van Afrika in de Jaren 1797 en 1798'' Haarlem, 1803.)
  
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In 1804 he returned to England and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty, a post he would hold for some 40 years. At the Admiralty he was a great promoter of British exploration of West Africa and the North Polar Regions. Barrow Strait, Barrow Sound and Barrow Point in the Arctic and Cape Barrow in the Antarctic were named in his honour.
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Barrow later worked as a diplomat in the Cape Colony, having married a local botanic artist, and settled in South Africa in 1800. In 1804 he returned to England and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty, a post he would hold till 1845.  
  
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Sir John was a founder member and key figure in the foundation of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830.  The Society was to become the premier promoter of 19th century exploration. He had a baronetcy conferred on him 1835 by Sir Robert Peel, before retiring in 1845.
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Over the years he eagerly promoted British exploration of West Africa and the North Polar Regions, and (Barrow Strait, Barrow Sound and Barrow Point in the Arctic and Cape Barrow in the Antarctic were all named in his honour for example). In addition he was a founder member and key figure in the influential Royal Geographical Society.   
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He wrote a history of Arctic voyages and his autobiography. His other literary works include the lives of John Macaulay, Lord Anson, Lord Howe and Peter the Great. His writings also included biographies of Naval men and a standard work on The Mutiny on the Bounty.  This book is now included in The World's Classics series. He lists 195 articles in the Quarterly Review and 12 in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
 
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His life's work and his writings made a great contribution to the geographical knowledge of the day.
 
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Author of inter alia ''Travels into the interior of Southern Africa'' (volumes I and II). London, Cadwell and Davies, 1806. Apparently also published in [[Dutch]] as ''Reizen in de Binnelanden van het Zuidelyk Deel van Afrika in de Jaren 1797 en 1798'' Harlem, 1803. This book is the source of much circumstantial information about late 18th century performance in South Africa, used by Bosman, Fletcher and others.   
 
  
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== Sources ==
  
 
[[F.C.L. Bosman]], 1928. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika'', Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: [[J.H. de Bussy]]. [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bosm012dram01_01/]
 
[[F.C.L. Bosman]], 1928. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika'', Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: [[J.H. de Bussy]]. [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bosm012dram01_01/]
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http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/sir-john-barrow-84-explorer-interior-sa-dies-london
 
http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/sir-john-barrow-84-explorer-interior-sa-dies-london
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Barrow,_1st_Baronet

Revision as of 05:59, 30 September 2016

Sir John Barrow (1764-1848)[1] was an English explorer, geographer, diplomat and author.

He traveled to South Africa in 1797 as private secretary to Lord Macartney and was sent to the interior , "entrusted with the task of reconciling the Boer settlers and the native Black population and of reporting on the country in the interior" ([2]), drawing much needed maps. His published accounts of these travels, Travels into the interior of Southern Africa (volumes I and II, published by London, T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806). This work and his many subsequent works made a great contribution to the geographical knowledge of time, earned him fame as author, explorer and geographer. It is also a very useful source of incidental information about late 18th century culture and performance in Southern Africa, and has been used by Bosman, Fletcher, Juta and others. (The book was apparently also published in Dutch as Reizen in de Binnelanden van het Zuidelyk Deel van Afrika in de Jaren 1797 en 1798 Haarlem, 1803.)

Barrow later worked as a diplomat in the Cape Colony, having married a local botanic artist, and settled in South Africa in 1800. In 1804 he returned to England and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty, a post he would hold till 1845.

Over the years he eagerly promoted British exploration of West Africa and the North Polar Regions, and (Barrow Strait, Barrow Sound and Barrow Point in the Arctic and Cape Barrow in the Antarctic were all named in his honour for example). In addition he was a founder member and key figure in the influential Royal Geographical Society.

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [3]

Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg.

http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/sir-john-barrow-84-explorer-interior-sa-dies-london

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Barrow,_1st_Baronet

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