Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell

The Right Honourable
The Lord Gorell

Lord Gorell in 1920
Under-Secretary of State for Air
In office
1921–1922
Preceded by The Marquess of Londonderry
Succeeded by The Duke of Sutherland
Personal details
Born Ronald Gorell Barnes
(1884-04-16)16 April 1884
London, England
Died 2 May 1963(1963-05-02) (aged 79)
Arundel, West Sussex
Political party Liberal
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford
Civilian awards Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 1915–1918
Rank Captain
Unit Rifle Brigade
Battles/wars First World War
Military awards Military Cross

Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell CBE MC (16 April 1884 – 2 May 1963) was a British peer, Liberal politician, poet, author and newspaper editor.

Early life and education

Gorell was the second son of John Gorell Barnes, 1st Baron Gorell, President of the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice.

Gorell was educated at Winchester College, Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford.[1] While at Oxford, he played first-class cricket for the University cricket team. After leaving Oxford, Gorell played with MCC for 13 seasons, 431 runs and 43 wickets in his 19-match career. In 1909 he was admitted to Inner Temple, to practice as a barrister, and worked as a journalist for The Times from 1911 to 1915.[1]

Military and career

During World War I he served in the Rifle Brigade, where he reached the rank of Captain, was mentioned in despatches and, in 1917, received the Military Cross.[1]

Barnes succeeded as third Baron Gorell on 16 January 1917 after his unmarried elder brother was killed in the War. After the war, he took his seat on the Liberal benches in the House of Lords and in July 1921 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Air in the coalition government of David Lloyd George, an office he held until the government fell in October 1922. He was the founder of the (Royal) Army Education Corps in which he enabled the army "to take an immense step forward; the biggest it has ever taken" (Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff). Barnes' autobiography is One Man... Many Parts.[1]

After the war, he spent two years working at the War Office as Deputy Director of Staff Duties (Education), and then served a year as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1921 to 1922.[1]

He then devoted his life to literature, while still serving on many public and private committees.[1]

Charitable work

Gorell was involved with many charities, particularly those that were educational or literary in nature. He was chairman of the Teachers' Registration Council (1922–1935), King's College Hospital (1929–1933), and of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School (1949–1959), and president of the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child (1928–1962), the Royal Society of Teachers (1929–1935), and of the Royal Literary Fund (1951–1962).[1]

Personal life and honours

Gorell was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 Birthday Honours and as a Commander of the same order in 1919.[1] He was also invested as an Officier of the Order of Leopold in 1919.[1]

He was later editor of the Cornhill Magazine from 1933 to 1939.[1] He was co-President of the Detection Club with Agatha Christie from 1956 to 1963.

Lord Gorell married Maud Elizabeth Furse Radcliffe (1886–1954), eldest daughter of Alexander Nelson Radcliffe and Isabel Grace Henderson, in 1922. He died at his home in Arundel, aged 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Timothy John Radcliffe Barnes.[1]

Bibliography

Gorell wrote 14 works of fiction, mainly detective stories, and several collections of poetry, published by John Murray.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Lord Gorell". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 3 May 1963. p. 17.

References

Political offices
Preceded by
The Marquess of Londonderry		 Under-Secretary of State for Air
1921–1922 		Succeeded by
The Duke of Sutherland
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Henry Barnes		 Baron Gorell
1917–1963 		Succeeded by
Timothy John Radcliffe Barnes
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