John Barrow Jr.

John Barrow (28 June 1808 – 9 December 1898) was an English clerk and author.

Early life John Barrow was born on 28 June 1808 as the second surviving son of Second Secretary to the Admiralty John Barrow (who would not be created a Baronet until 1835) and his wife Anna Maria. The family lived on Upper Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, London. Barrow Jr.'s surviving siblings were Johanna Maria (b. 1801), George (b. 1806), William (b. 1810), Mary Jane (b. 1811), and Peter Barrow (b. 1813).

Together with his older brother George Barrow, John Barrow Jr. was educated at Charterhouse School from January 1819 until May 1824.

Career On 17 November 1824, he began his career at the Admiralty as a Third Class Clerk. He was promoted to Second Class Clerk on 20 July 1832, and First Class Clerk/Chief of the Record Office on 4 May 1844. The latter promotion was in recognition of Barrow's labours in re-arranging and preserving valuable Admiralty records going back to 1688, which had previously been neglected and inadequately stored.

Like his father, John Barrow Jr. had a great interest in Arctic exploration. When the 1845 Arctic Expedition under Sir John Franklin went missing, Barrow Jr. was indefatigable in his efforts to promote the search and support the officers and men who went on the search expeditions. Barrow Jr.'s close friend Captain James Fitzjames was the third in command of the Franklin Expedition.

Later life After his retirement from the Admiralty on 21 March 1857, Barrow joined the 38th Middlesex (Artists') Volunteer Rifle Corps in 1860 as a Private and ultimately attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the 18th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1882. He also seriously took up mountaineering and was elected a member of the Alpine Club in 1861 after his successful ascent of Mont Blanc. In 1864, he acquired a second home in Kingham, Oxfordshire, which he named Monte Rosa after the mountain he ascended in 1862.

Travels and Publications Every summer during his working life, Barrow took a few months' leave and travelled extensively to places such as Iceland, Russia, Norway and Switzerland. His interesting and amusing observations from many of these travels were later published. Besides travel books, he also wrote naval historical works.

Second Edition, enlarged and revised, 1888.