Hugh Shakespear Barnes


Sir Hugh Shakespear Barnes was an English administrator in British India. He served as Chief Commissioner of Baluchistan several times during the 19th century.

Early life and education

Barnes was born in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to James Ralph Barnes, a member of the British Indian Civil Service, and Mary Jane Thompson. His maternal great-grandfather, George Nesbitt Thompson,, was private secretary to Warren Hastings. His mother's brother was Sir Rivers Thompson, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, while his father's brother George Carnac Barnes, Commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej states. He was educated at Malvern College. His brother, Herbert Curie Barnes, served as Private Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Burma.

Career

Hugh Barnes joined the Indian Civil Service in 1874, after placing atop the entrance examination. He was appointed Chief Commissioner of Baluchistan in 1891, and served further terms in 1896–1899 and 1899–1900. In 1899, he was appointed Foreign Secretary to the Government of India. It was announced in August 1902 that Barnes was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Burma in succession to Sir Frederick Fryer, whose term was to end in early 1903. Barnes served in Burma from April 1903 until May 1905, in which year he became a Member of the Council of India.
He was awarded KCSI in 1924.

Personal life

Barnes married Winifred Strachey, daughter of John Strachey, another Indian civil servant and a member of the prominent Strachey family. So many members of the Strachey family served in India that they were known jokingly as the "Strachey government." Barnes' daughter, Mary Barnes Hutchinson, was to become a writer and member of the Bloomsbury Group.