Jim Barnes

Sir James George Barnes (24 September 1908 – 6 June 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Early life and family Barnes was born in Dunedin on 24 September 1908, and was educated at Andersons Bay School, and then King Edward Technical College from 1919 to 1921. He qualified as a navigator and bomb aimer, and joined the No. 75 (NZ) Squadron.

Athletics career

Competitor Barnes was a noted athlete at the national level. He won the New Zealand men's senior cross-country title in 1932, and the national men's one mile championship in 1933, recording a time of 4:24.4 in the latter event.

Official Later, Barnes was active as an official and leader of Otago Athletics, and was particularly supportive of women's athletics. His name has become enshrined in the Otago harrier programme in the J.G. Barnes cross-country race, first held in the early 1950s in the Chisholm Park area of Dunedin.

Barnes was the New Zealand athletics team manager at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, and assistant manager for the New Zealand team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

Other activities Barnes served as president of both the New Zealand Trotting Conference and the Australasian Trotting Council, and he was a life member of the Forbury Park Trotting Club in Dunedin.

For 14 years, Barnes served as president of the Shipwreck Relief Society of New Zealand, and he was a life member of the Caledonian Society of New Zealand.

The Sir James Barnes Memorial Lookout is located between Forbury Park and the dunes of Saint Kilda Beach (at ), and commands a view across the southern part of Dunedin.