Sir James Alan Noel Barlow, 2nd Baronet (25 December 1881 – 28 February 1968) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and collector of Islamic and

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...

. He was Principal Private Secretary to

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

, 1933–1934, and later Under-secretary at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

.BARLOW, Sir (James) Alan (Noel)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 26 May 2011
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Personal life and education

Barlow was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Barlow, 1st Baronet, Royal physician, and his wife Ada Dalmahoy. He attended

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, graduating with a first class degree in ''literae humaniores'' in 1904. In 1911 Barlow and Nora Darwin, the daughter of Horace Darwin and grand-daughter of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

(see Darwin — Wedgwood family) were married. They had six children: * Joan Helen Barlow (26 May 1912 – 21 February 1954). *

Sir Thomas Erasmus Barlow, 3rd Baronet Commodore (Royal Navy), Commodore Sir Thomas Erasmus Barlow, 3rd Baronet (23 January 1914 – 12 October 2003) was an officer in the Royal Navy. Biography Barlow was the eldest son of the Sir Alan Barlow, 2nd Bt, and his wife Nora Darwin. His ...

(23 January 1914 – 12 October 2003), naval officer. * Erasmus Darwin Barlow (15 April 1915 – 2 August 2005). * Andrew Dalmahoy Barlow (16 September 1916 – 2006), son: Martin T. Barlow, mathematician. * Hilda Horatia Barlow (14 September 1919 – 1 February 2017) husband: John Hunter Padel, psychoanalyst; daughter: Ruth Padel, poet. * Horace Basil Barlow (8 December 1921 – 5 July 2020). He was a member of the Savile and Athenaeum clubs in London where he was able to meet political contacts during his career. He started collecting Islamic pottery and Chinese ceramics as a child and later donated pieces to museums and the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. He was also a

bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

and interested in archaeology. From 1948 until 1955 he was a trustee of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, and its chair from 1949 – 1951. He was also a president of the Oriental Ceramic Society from 1943 – 1964.

Career

He began a career as a civil servant as a clerk in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1906. He was then chosen as a junior examiner in the Board of Education and in 1914 became private secretary to the parliamentary secretary. The

First World War 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 ...

altered the direction of his career since in 1915 he was moved to the Ministry of Munitions to be private secretary to Christopher Addison, who became the Minister. In 1917 he was promoted to be deputy controller of labour supply and in 1918 became controller of the labour department. When the war ended he was in charge of demobilization and training in the new Ministry of Labour. In 1924 he was promoted to principal assistant secretary in charge of the industrial relations department of the Ministry. His role focused on training after 1929 and the establishment of government training centres, although there remained a lack of training by industry. In 1933 he was appointed as the principal private secretary to Ramsay MacDonald, the prime minister. However, the two men were not suited to each other and in 1934 Barlow was transferred to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

where he remained, rising to a senior position and being a member of several committees that together were concerned with the machinery of government. It has been considered that he made creative changes that improved the civil service. However he did not lead on changes needed as the government intervened more in economic and social policy from the late 1940s onwards. He was in favour of education expenditure, especially in technical and scientific areas. He chaired a committee in 1945 - 1946 that recommended foundation of a new technological university and increasing the number of science graduates, but it was not implemented. He retired in 1948 but continued to be a member of the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy. Barlow was a knight three times over; a baronet and a knight of both the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

and 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 ...

: * 1918 New Year Honours awarded CBE * 1928 New Year Honours awarded CB * The King's Birthday Honours 1938 awarded KBE * The King's Birthday Honours 1942 awarded KCB * 1947 New Year Honours awarded GCB

References

External links

* http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/england/royalty/SirAlan.htm
THE BARLOW COLLECTION - Art History
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Art collectors from London 1881 births 1968 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 302 Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Principal private secretaries to the prime minister Civil servants from London People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford {{UK-gov-bio-stub