Background
Barks was born in Ipstones in the countryside near Stoke-on-Trent and came from a working class background.
Barks was born in Ipstones in the countryside near Stoke-on-Trent and came from a working class background.
His experiences in World War I left him with pacifist beliefs and experience of railway operations. He was elected a Stoke councillor in 1930 and made an Alderman in 1948. He served as Mayor for 1951-1952.
Barks" cultural interests included and the writer Arnold Bennett.
The reference library in the city is named after Barks. Barks was involved with starting classes at the Wedgwood Memorial College in Barlaston, which remains an important centre of education.
Through Barks" influence his local public in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, acquired the name "The Green Star" (an symbol) and a sign in "Louisiana Verda Stelo". lieutenant is mentioned in a poem by Raymond Schwartz.
Smallthorne also has a street named after Zamenhof.
After the war he became a train guard and, in 1921, a member of the Labour Party, the dominant party in Stoke-on-Trent during the twentieth century.