Background
Barnard was the son of William Barnard who had connections to Harlow Mill in Essex and the nearby Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire.
Barnard was the son of William Barnard who had connections to Harlow Mill in Essex and the nearby Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire.
He was educated at Brighton College and Downing College, Cambridge where he gained his Bachelor in 1879 and Master of Arts in 1882.
Barnard was an old-fashioned country gentleman, a patron of his locality on the Essex and Hertfordshire borders where his family had been extensive landowners and farmers for generations. He was chairman of the County Council’s Education Committee and took a strong stand in favour of the retention of village schools, emphasising their importance to the preservation of village life. Barnard also served on Sawbridgeworth Urban District Council and was its chairman between 1905 and 1907 He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament three times before getting elected.
At the 1885 general election he was Liberal candidate in Epping.
In 1886 he stood in Maldon and then in Kidderminster at the general election of 1900. He did not contest Kidderminster in the general elections of January 1910 but fought the December General Election and came close to winning back his old seat.
In 1904 Barnard was elected Chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board. He was sometime Chairman of the Lee Conservancy Board and the Thames Conservancy Board.
In connection with this work he was appointed the First Employers’ Chairman of the Joint Industrial Council for the Waterworks Undertakings Industry.
He was sometime president of the Canal Association of Great Britain. He was a Justice of the Peace for both Essex and Hertfordshire and Chairman of Bishops Stortford Petty Sessions. Barnard was also sometime chairman of the Hertfordshire Agricultural Executive, chairman of the Board of Governors of The Bishops Stortford Secondary School for Girls.
He was also a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.
He played polo for Cambridge and rode in competitions under Jockey Club Rules, on one occasion riding three winners in an afternoon at Lewes races. He later took to regular attendance at race meetings and combined this with a reputation for being a pleasure seeker and convivial host at his Sawbridgeworth home.
Barnard died suddenly, aged 73, during a meeting of the Hertfordshire County Council which he was chairing on 27 January 1930. The meeting was being held in London in the Law Society’s Hall.
Apparently Barnard was just about to move a resolution when he experienced a sudden seizure.
The county medical officer went to his assistance but he had died almost instantly.
He seemed to have had a falling out with the Liberals over the prosecution of the First World War and the conduct of party politics in general as in 1917 he fought a by-election at Islington East for the National Party. He fought the 1918 general election for the same party at Hertford.
28th United Kingdom Parliament]
He was a member of the Agricultural Board of Studies of Cambridge University. Barnard was an original member of Hertfordshire County Council, serving on and chairing many different committees and becoming its chairman in 1920 and an Alderman.
He was a generous local benefactor and supporter of good causes.