Ronald Gorell Barnes, MC, Lord Gorell (1884 - 1963) – British politician, writer, poet and editor

Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell was born on 16^th April 1884. He was the son of John Gorell Barnes, 1st Baron Gorell, and his wife, Mary, nee Humpston Mitchell.  Educated at Winchester College, Winchester, UK and Harrow School, Harrow, UK, Ronald went up to Balliol College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts.

He was called to Inner Temple in 1909 and was entitled to practise as a barrister. Between 1911 and 1915, Ronald worked as a journalist at “The Times” newspaper.  He held the rank of Captain in the Rifle Brigade and served during the First World War, being mentioned in despatches. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917.

Ronald became the 3rd Baron Gorell, of Brampton, Derby on 16^th January 1917 after the death of his elder brother who was killed in WW1. He was appointed Officer, Order of the British Empire in 1918 and was also awarded the Order of Leopold of Belgium. In 1919, Ronald was appointed Commander, Order of the British Empire in 1919.  

 On 10^th January 1922, Ronald married Maud Elizabeth Furse Radcliffe, daughter of Alexander Nelson Radcliffe and Isabel Grace, nee Henderson.  The couple had three children – two sons and a daughter.  From 1913 until 1917, Maud was the spiritual medium who helped the poet William Butler Yeats.

President of the Royal Society Teachers from 1929 to 1935 and editor of “Cornhill Magazine” between 1933 and 1939, along with Agatha Christie Ronald was co-president of the Detection Club from 1956 until 1963.

Ronald died on 2nd May 1963 at the age of 79.   His WW1 poetry collections were:

“Days of Destiny: war poems at home and abroad”, (Longmans, Green, London, 1917)

“Many mansions (poems)” (Murray, 1926)

“Pilgrimage and other poems” (Longmans, Green, London, 1920 and his poems were published in seven WW1 poetry anthologies.

 

“Days of Destiny” is available as a download from Archive: https://archive.org/stream/daysofdestinywar00goreiala#page/n7/mode/2up

 

Sources: Catherine W. Reilly “English Poetry of the First World War:  A Bibliography” (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1978) and

http://www.thepeerage.com/p42416.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/radcliffe-maud-elizabeth-furse-lady-gorell-d-1954