Edward Ivo Medhurst Barrett, (22 June 1879 – 10 July 1950) was an English Army officer,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and rugby union international.Edward Barrett Profile on scrum.com
/ref> A right-handed batsman who was considered one of the finest and hardest hitters of his day,Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, Sports Books Publishing, 2007 he played first-class cricket for Hampshire, mainly between 1896 and 1912, with additional matches in 1920 and 1925.First-class matches played by Edward Barrett
at CricketArchive

Cricket career

Born on 22 June 1879 in Churt, Surrey, England, Barrett played his earliest cricket at Cheltenham College. He made his debut for Hampshire in 1896 against Warwickshire, and also played against Essex and

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

the same year. He played more matches in 1897 and 1898 before serving in the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1951
Obituaries in 1950
/ref> though he did return for a handful of matches in 1901. He returned to the Hampshire team in 1903, playing three matches that year, but by then his career with the police force was beginning to affect his availability for Hampshire, even more so when he was posted in the far east, where he played cricket for the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

and

Federated Malay States )Under God's Protection , capital = Kuala Lumpur1 , religion = Islam , legislature = Federal Legislative Council , type_house1 = State level , common_languages = , title_leader = Monarch , leader1 ...

and was eventually made Commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Police, where he played 14 matches for their cricket team over the years, his last coming as late as 1927. In amongst his police career in the far east, he did still manage to play more for Hampshire, including a complete season in 1912, during which he also played for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the Gentlemen of England, the South of England and the Rest of England. Following that season, he did not play again for Hampshire in 1920, when he again played a full season, and returned for one final match against Worcestershire in 1925.

Rugby career

Barrett was injured during the war, though this did not stop him from appearing for the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

in 1903, playing one match against Scotland in the Four Nations.

Military and disciplined service

After officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Barrett was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

into the Lancashire Fusiliers on 11 February 1899. He served with the 2nd Battalion of his regiment in the Second Boer War 1899–1902, including as part of the Ladysmith Relief Force, and was slightly wounded at the engagement at Venters Spruit on 20 January 1900, when he had to take the responsibility as lieutenant, promotion to the rank later confirmed to the same day. The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which formally ended in June 1902 after the Peace of Vereeniging. Barrett joined other officers and men of the battalion who left Cape Town on the SS ''Britannic'' in October that year, and was stationed at Aldershot after their return. In 1903 he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and in June 1903 was seconded as a Wing Officer to the

Malay States Guides Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker (13 May 1850 – 16 May 1917), also known as R. S. F. Walker, was a prominent figure in Malaya during the British colonial era in the late 19th century. During his youth he was an amateur spor ...

, a mostly Sikh regiment, stationed in

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, in the

. On 1 May 1907 he joined the Shanghai Municipal Police, as Assistant Superintendent of Police, heading the Sikh Branch for some years, before becoming Commissioner of Police in December 1925. On 1 October 1929 he was forced to resign after disputes about police effectiveness and reform. Barrett was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the

1919 Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. Barrett died 10 July 1950 in Boscombe, Bournemouth, in a bicycling accident.

References

External links

Biography of Barrett (with photos)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Edward 1879 births 1950 deaths Cricketers from Surrey English cricketers Federated Malay States cricketers Straits Settlements cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English rugby union players England international rugby union players People from Boscombe North v South cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Lancashire Fusiliers officers Cycling road incident deaths Road incident deaths in England Rugby union players from Surrey Rugby union centres