Robert Barrington-Ward
Robert Barrington-Ward | |
---|---|
Born | Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward 23 February 1891 Worcestershire, England |
Died | 29 February 1948 Off Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar | (aged 57)
Other names | Robin, B.W. |
Education | Balliol College, Oxford |
Occupation(s) | Barrister, journalist, and editor |
Spouse | Adele Radice (m. 1926–1948) |
Children | Mark Barrington-Ward Simon Barrington-Ward Caroline Barrington-Ward |
Relatives | Frederick Temple Barrington-Ward (brother) Sir Lancelot Barrington-Ward (brother) |
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward
Family and early life
Robert was the fourth son of Mark James Barrington-Ward, the
In 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.[2] Mark followed his father by serving in the DCLI, studying at Balliol and editing a newspaper.[3]
Newspaper career
Postwar demobilisation left Barrington-Ward a man without a position. While he was
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. In fact, he worked behind the scenes to promote his vision. Lester B. Pearson, then a young chargé d'affaires in the Canadian High Commission, recalls in his memoirs a visit paid by Barrington-Ward in furtherance of the appeasement policy which was fashionable in that era:[4]
There now followed another Nazi violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the reoccupation of the Rhineland in March 1936. There were those who counselled firm action with France against this Nazi move; that German troops should be ordered out of the Rhineland under threat of war. I was one of the great majority in Britain and Canada who condemned such a threat as war-mongering. I agreed with the London Times as it thundered against strong anti-Nazi policy and emphasized the danger of precipitate action against a Germany which, however deplorable its regime, was trying merely to free itself from some of the worst shackles of an unjust treaty... I recall how at this time, in pursuit of the policy which became known later as "appeasement", Barrington-Ward, an editor of the Times and an old Balliol friend of Mr Massey, came over to Canada House to persuade the High Commissioner to suggest to Mr King that he send a message to Mr Baldwin warning him that Canada would not support any strong or rash action against the Nazis over the occupation of the Rhineland. I was present at this talk. The idea appealed to Mr Massey, as indeed it did to me, and the High Commissioner in fact sent a telegram to Mr King along these lines on 13 March [1936]....
He switched to opposing further German expansion after the Germans invaded the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.[5][6]
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.[7]
As an editor, Barrington-Ward was more interested in policy matters than in the business of running a newspaper. Though a
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 Africa; on the return voyage, he fell ill with
References
- ^ McLachlan 1971, pp. 8–48.
- ^ McLachlan 1971, p. 52–56, 67–68.
- ^ Barrington-Ward, Mark (2010). Forty Years of Oxford Planning: What has it achieved, and what next?. Oxford: Oxford Civic Society. pp. author's biography on rear cover.
- ^ Pearson 1972, pp. 122–3
- ^ McDonald 1984, pp. 15–17.
- ^ McLachlan 1971, p. 99–110, 168–170.
- ^ McDonald 1984, pp. 40–41.
- ^ McLachlan 1971, pp. 184–186.
- ^ McLachlan 1971, p. 265-267.
Sources
- Fleming, N. C. "The Press, Empire and Historical Time: The Times and Indian self-government, c. 1911–47." Media History 16.2 (2010): 183-198.
- McDonough, Frank. "The Times, Norman Ebbut and the Nazis, 1927-37." Journal of Contemporary History 27#3 (1992): 407-424.
- Martel, Gordon, ed. The Times and Appeasement: The Journals of A L Kennedy, 1932-1939 (2000).
- The Office of the Times. The History of The Times: The 150th Anniversary and Beyond 1912-1948 (2 vol. 1952), vol 2: 1912-1948, passim.
- Wrench, John Evelyn (1955). Geoffrey Dawson and our times. Hutchinson.
- McDonald, Iverach (1984). The History of The Times, Volume V, Struggles in War and Peace, 1939–1966. London: Times Books.
- McLachlan, Donald (1971). In the Chair: Barrington-Ward of The Times. London: ISBN 9780297003052.
- Pearson, Lester B. (1972). Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson. Vol. 1. University of Toronto Press.