Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, (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 The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

. Gorell was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. While at Oxford, he played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the University cricket team. After leaving Oxford, Gorell played with

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) for 13 seasons, averaging 431 runs and 43 wickets in his 19-match career. In 1909, he was admitted to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, to practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. Gorell worked as a journalist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' from 1911 to 1915.

Military and career

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, where he reached the rank of captain, was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and, in 1917, received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. 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 The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and in July 1921 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Air in the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

, 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''. 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. In 1925, he left the Liberals and joined the Labour Party. He then devoted his life to literature, editing the ''

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian literature, Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill, London, Cornhill in London.Laurel ...

'', while still serving on many public and private committees.

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 Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

(1949–1959), and president of the

National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child Gingerbread says it is the leading British charity working with single parent families. The National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child, founded in 1918, changed its name to the National Council for One Parent Families in the early 1970 ...

(1928–1962), the Royal Society of Teachers (1929–1935), and of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

(1951–1962).

Personal life and honours

Gorell was invested as an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 1918 Birthday Honours and as a Commander of the same order in 1919. He was also invested as an ''Officier'' of the Order of Leopold in 1919. He was later editor of the ''

'' from 1933 to 1939. He was co-president of the

Detection Club The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Louisa Rickard, Baroness Orczy, ...

with

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

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 Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much la ...

, aged 79, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Timothy John Radcliffe Barnes.

Bibliography

Gorell wrote 14 works of fiction, mainly detective stories, and several collections of poetry, published by John Murray. *''In the Night'' (1917) *''DEQ'' (1922) *''Venturers All'' (1927) *''The Devouring Fire'' (1928) *''He Who Fights'' (1928) *''Devil's Drum'' (1929) *''Red Lilac'' (1935) *''Wild Thyme and other stories'' (1941) *''Murder at Mavering'' (1943) *''Luck and other new stories'' (1948) *''Let Not Thy Left Hand'' (1949) *''Earl's End'' (1951) *''Where There's a Head'' (1952) *''Murder at Manor House'' (1954)

References

Sources

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

External links

CricketArchive profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Ronald 3rd Baron Gorell Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron 3 Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Rifle Brigade officers Military personnel from London Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Oxford University cricketers English cricketers People educated at Winchester College People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Suffolk cricketers British male novelists 20th-century British novelists British mystery writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Younger sons of barons 20th-century British male writers Members of the Detection Club British sportsperson-politicians Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction Nobility from London