Obituary of Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward 1891

THE TIMES

Monday Mar 1, 1948
OBITUARY

Mr. R. M. BARRINGTON WARD

EDITOR OF "THE TIMES"
Mr. R. M. Barrington-Ward, D.S.O., M.C., Editor of The Times since 1941, died on board the Llangibby Castle early yesterday morning at the age of 57, as announced with the deepest regret on another page.
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward was born on February 23, 1891, and was the fourth son of the Rev. M. J. Barrington Ward, D.D., who had been in earlier life a schoolmaster, then an inspector of schools, and after taking holy orders rather later than is customary became the rector of the parish of Duloe, in Cornwall, and an honorary Canon of Truro. The family was of Ulster Origin. All the sons of the rector of Duloe distinguished themselves; the eldest was the late Frederick Temple Barrington-Ward, K.C.; the youngest was the late J. G. Barrington-Ward, student of Christ Church; the second son is Sir Lancelot Barrington-Ward, F.R.C.S.; the third Mr. V. M. Barrington-Ward, until last December a divisional manager of the L.N.E.R. and now a member of the British Railways Executive.

They were all educated at Westminster. Robert entered the school as a King's Scholar in September, 1903, and left as captain of the school in 1909, having been elected a scholar of Balliol. At Oxford he became successively secretary, treasurer, librarian, and president of the Union Society, and graduated in 1913, after taking a first class in classical Moderations in 1911 and a third class in Literae Humaniores.
Coming to London in the autumn of 1913 he ate his dinners at Lincoln's Inn, for he already held the Tancred Studentship through he was not called until 1919. Meanwhile, for a year, until the outbreak of war in 1914, he served on the staff of The Times as one of the Editor's secretaries, in which position he had opportunities to prove his qualities as a writer; and he was evidently a writer of promise. The war, however, took him away. He obtained at once a commission in the 6th battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and served through the war in France and Flanders. He was wounded at Bellecourt in 1917; was thrice mentioned in dispatches; served as a General Staff officer from February, 1917; was awarded the M.C. and later the D.S.O..
The war over, Barrington-Ward came back to resume journalism, but at that moment Geoffrey Dawson, under

whom he had served his year on The Times, was relinquishing the editorship; he strongly advised his young colleague to take the position of assistant editor on the Observer that J. L. Garvin had offered him. There he served for eight years. He then rejoined the staff of The Times, once more under Dawson. He was by that time, ie., 1927, a mature and accomplished journalist; and his new position on The Times as assistant editor gave him fresh scope for his talents, alike as a writer, and as one of the architects of the paper's policy. As time went on it seemed possible that, all things else being favourable, he might, when the time came, be the man to succeed Dawson. Barrington-Ward's devotion to the interests of The Times was complete and his zeal unflagging. The range of his interests included all aspects of home politics and under the impact of events he manifested a keen concern for foreign affairs. By 1934, when Barrington-Ward became deputy editor, it had become clear the the editorial succession would devolve upon him. The appointment, in fact, was settled on some two years at least before it came into effect; for Geoffrey Dawson was to have retired from the editorial chair in 1939, but war broke out and it was at Barrington-Ward's request that he remained on for a period. Actually, therefore, it was on October 1, 1941, that Barrington-Ward assumed the full responsibility of editorship, though he had shared with Dawson much of the work.

Barrington-Ward was at this time just over 50 years of age, comfortably settled domestically with a young family, and well known to a great many of the leading figures in public life. He had, moreover, done not a little towards shaping the policy of The Times, both in the years immediately preceding the recent war and on its outbreak. His keen sense of the errors of Versailles, and the logical nature of his mind, led him, even after 1933, to work hard for peace; as a soldier he knew what war was, and was prepared to go far to prevent a repetition of its destructiveness and wastefulness.
He took a broad and tolerant view, and he looked for these qualities in the work of others. He took great pains over the contributions of colleagues, so that little in the way of comment on the news went into the paper that did not bear, though invisibly, the marks of his hand. During the bombing of London he took his full share in the risks and hardships of that time, his house in Regent's Park having been wrecked by enemy action; but these inconveniences had no external effect on him. He knew, as he had known 20 years before, where his duty lay, and kept to it.
Barrington-Ward married in 1926 Margaret Adele, daughter of Mr. E. H. Radice, C.I.E., I.C.S., and there are two sons and a daughter of the marriage.