Thomas Barnes

Sir Thomas James Barnes (21 March 1888 – 4 February 1964) was an English lawyer, who served as HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor between 1934 and 1953.

Career Thomas James Barnes was born on 21 March 1888 in Cheshire to Thomas Barnes, a clerk in the High Court of Justice, and Esther Mary, née Pither. After leaving the Mercers' School, in 1906 he was articled to R. J. Ball of H. C. Coote and Ball, and was admitted a solicitor in 1911.

He joined the Lord Chancellor's Department and became Principal Clerk,

In an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Robert Speed says that Barnes "was the first solicitor ever to be appointed to these offices [HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor] and he proved to be the outstanding government lawyer of his generation." His period in office witnessed substantial growth in the size of his Department's staff, while the responsibilities added to the role during the Second World War were considerable. He was also responsible for the Tribunals of Inquiry following the Budget Leak in 1936 and the Lynskey Tribunal of 1948.

In retirement, Barnes was a member of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission, helped to revise the Church of England's Canon Law, and played golf, his favourite sport. He died in London on 4 February 1964, leaving a widow, Elisie Margaret (formerly Clover; née Alexander), whom he had married nearly forty years earlier.

Likenesses

Archives Personal file in The National Archives, Kew (reference TS 60/119).