Robert M'Gowan Barrington-Ward
Encyclopedia
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward DSO
MC
(23 February 1891 – 29 February 1948) was an English
barrister
and journalist
who was editor
of The Times
from 1941 until 1948.
of Duloe, Cornwall
and an inspector of schools. He attended Westminster School
, where he was a King's Scholar
, and Balliol College, Oxford
. While at Balliol, he was elected president of the Oxford Union Society and took a Third Class in Greats
in 1913. Though planning for a career in the law and in politics, he undertook freelance editing work for The Times
while reading for the Bar, and in February 1914 was given a position as secretary to the editor, Geoffrey Dawson
. At the start of World War I
Barrington-Ward became an officer with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
(DCLI). He went on to serve in France
and Belgium
, where he was mentioned in despatches three times and awarded both the Distinguished Service Order
and the Military Cross
.
It the 1920s Barrington-Ward met and married Adele Radice, the daughter of an Indian civil servant who was working as a schoolteacher. The couple had two sons, Mark
and Simon
, and a daughter, Caroline. Mark followed his father by serving in the DCLI, studying at Ballion and editing a newspaper.
a few weeks after the end of the war, early in 1919 he received an invitation to become an assistant editor of a Sunday newspaper The Observer
. Though his initial interview with the paper's editor, J. L. Garvin
, did not go well, a successful stint as a special correspondent to the Paris Peace Conference
soon won Garvin over. The position provided Barrington-Ward with valuable experience in the management and operations of a newspaper, and he developed a close friendship with the legendary editor.
In April 1927 Dawson invited Barrington-Ward to return to The Times as assistant editor. Barrington-Ward accepted, taking over most of the day-to-day administration of the office. His responsibilities soon grew: in 1929, he began writing most of the leading articles on domestic policy and European matters, and in 1934 he was made deputy editor. Convinced by his own military service of the futility of the First World War, he supported Dawson's views in favour of appeasing Germany
in the 1930s, though he switched to opposing further German expansion after the Germans invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
Two months later Barrington-Ward was approached by the owner of The Times, John Jacob Astor
, about succeeding Dawson as editor upon Dawson's retirement, which was anticipated by the end of the year. Though Barrington-Ward accepted, Dawson's departure was conditional on the continuance of peace, and the outbreak of war led him to postpone his retirement indefinitely. It was not until Astor pressed Dawson for a departure date in May 1941 that the editor finally agreed to leave the paper at the end of September 1941.
As editor, Barrington-Ward was more interested in policy matters than in the business of running a newspaper. Though a Tory democrat
in his youth, he became a Labour
supporter after the First World War, and adopted an editorial stance more left-wing than that of his predecessors. In terms of the war, Barrington-Ward believed that it was generally the patriotic duty of the paper to support the government, he reserved the right to oppose specific policies, such as the deployment of British troops to Greece in 1944. He enjoyed regular contact with many of the leading figures in the war effort, including the prime minister, Winston Churchill
.
; on the return voyage he fell ill with malaria
which his weakened body was unable to fight. Barrington-Ward died on board the ship , which was docked in the harbour of Dar es Salaam
in Zanzibar
. He was buried onshore.
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(23 February 1891 – 29 February 1948) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who was editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
from 1941 until 1948.
Family and early life
Robert was the fourth son of Mark James Barrington-Ward, the rectorRector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Duloe, Cornwall
Duloe, Cornwall
Duloe is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately four miles south of Liskeard at .-Parish church:...
and an inspector of schools. He attended Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, where he was a King's Scholar
King's Scholar
A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar of one of certain public schools...
, and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. While at Balliol, he was elected president of the Oxford Union Society and took a Third Class in Greats
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
in 1913. Though planning for a career in the law and in politics, he undertook freelance editing work for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
while reading for the Bar, and in February 1914 was given a position as secretary to the editor, Geoffrey Dawson
Geoffrey Dawson
George Geoffrey Dawson was editor of The Times from 1912 to 1919 and again from 1923 until 1941. His original last name was Robinson, but he changed it in 1917.-Early life:...
. At the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Barrington-Ward became an officer with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by The Rifles....
(DCLI). He went on to serve in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where he was mentioned in despatches three times and awarded both the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
.
It the 1920s Barrington-Ward met and married Adele Radice, the daughter of an Indian civil servant who was working as a schoolteacher. The couple had two sons, Mark
Mark Barrington-Ward
-Life:Barrington-Ward is the son of Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward , who served with distinction in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and was editor of The Times 1941–48....
and Simon
Simon Barrington-Ward
Simon Barrington-Ward KCMG is a Church of England bishop.Barrington-Ward is the son of a former editor of The Times, Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward and Margaret Adele Barrington-Ward. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge, from which he graduated Bachelor of Arts and...
, and a daughter, Caroline. Mark followed his father by serving in the DCLI, studying at Ballion and editing a newspaper.
Newspaper career
Postwar demobilization left Barrington-Ward a man without a position. While he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's InnLincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
a few weeks after the end of the war, early in 1919 he received an invitation to become an assistant editor of a Sunday newspaper The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
. Though his initial interview with the paper's editor, J. L. Garvin
James Louis Garvin
For the basketball player, see James Garvin James Louis Garvin , was an influential British journalist, editor, and author...
, did not go well, a successful stint as a special correspondent to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
soon won Garvin over. The position provided Barrington-Ward with valuable experience in the management and operations of a newspaper, and he developed a close friendship with the legendary editor.
In April 1927 Dawson invited Barrington-Ward to return to The Times as assistant editor. Barrington-Ward accepted, taking over most of the day-to-day administration of the office. His responsibilities soon grew: in 1929, he began writing most of the leading articles on domestic policy and European matters, and in 1934 he was made deputy editor. Convinced by his own military service of the futility of the First World War, he supported Dawson's views in favour of appeasing Germany
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
in the 1930s, though he switched to opposing further German expansion after the Germans invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
Two months later Barrington-Ward was approached by the owner of The Times, John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever
Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever DL was a British military officer, statesman, a newspaper proprietor, and a member of the prominent Astor family...
, about succeeding Dawson as editor upon Dawson's retirement, which was anticipated by the end of the year. Though Barrington-Ward accepted, Dawson's departure was conditional on the continuance of peace, and the outbreak of war led him to postpone his retirement indefinitely. It was not until Astor pressed Dawson for a departure date in May 1941 that the editor finally agreed to leave the paper at the end of September 1941.
As editor, Barrington-Ward was more interested in policy matters than in the business of running a newspaper. Though a Tory democrat
One Nation Conservatism
One nation, one nation conservatism, and Tory democracy are terms used in political debate in the United Kingdom to refer to a certain wing of the Conservative Party...
in his youth, he became a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
supporter after the First World War, and adopted an editorial stance more left-wing than that of his predecessors. In terms of the war, Barrington-Ward believed that it was generally the patriotic duty of the paper to support the government, he reserved the right to oppose specific policies, such as the deployment of British troops to Greece in 1944. He enjoyed regular contact with many of the leading figures in the war effort, including the prime minister, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Death
In early 1947, Barrington-Ward's colleagues noticed a decline in his work. Though he was given a long break, upon his return he shocked friends and colleagues with his worsening condition. That November, Astor advised him to take three months off. In January 1948 he travelled to South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
; on the return voyage he fell ill with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
which his weakened body was unable to fight. Barrington-Ward died on board the ship , which was docked in the harbour of Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
in Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. He was buried onshore.