Sir John Barran, 1st Baronet

Sir John Barran, 1st Baronet (3 August 1821 – 3 May 1905) was a British clothing manufacturer and Liberal Party politician.

Early life Barran was born in London in 1821, the eldest surviving son of a gunsmith, John Barran, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Fletcher). When he was 21 he sailed to Hull, then travelled by rail to Leeds where he got a job with a pawnbroker and clothes dealer before setting up his own shop at no.1 Briggate, living over the shop with his wife and family.

Family life Barran married Ann Hirst (died 1874) in 1842. He married secondly, to Eliza Bilton, née Brown, in 1878. He had six sons and four daughters. One of his sons died young. His youngest son, Rowland, became a Member of Parliament.

Later Barran moved his factory to Park Row and in 1869 bought land to the south of the recently widened Boar Lane. Architect Thomas Ambler designed several buildings for him including a shop at ‘Number One’ Boar Lane.

Clothing manufacture

alt=Detail of St Paul's House. Ornate window on Moorish Alhambra style. Detail of St Paul's House. Ornate window on Moorish Alhambra style. John Barran was a pioneer in the manufacture of ready-to-wear clothing.

By the 1870s he had 2,000 machines, and in 1904 he employed 3,000 people, and between 1873 and 1900 the firm registered more than 380 designs for boys'clothing, more than any other company.

His son Charles took over as chairman of the company in 1903, and another son Rowland became chairman in 1918.

St Pauls House, Leeds in Park Square, Leeds was built as a warehouse for Barran in 1878. It was designed by Thomas Ambler, and is in Moorish style.

Artistic recognition His bust was sculpted by Joseph Gott, son of his rival Benjamin Gott. It is in Leeds Art Gallery.