Richard Barnett

Who was Richard Barnett?

Major Sir Richard Whieldon Barnett was an Irish barrister, sportsman, volunteer officer and freemason who sat as a member of parliament in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

He was the eldest son of Richard Barnett, a doctor of medicine of Ardmore, Holywood, County Down and his wife Adela née Whieldon. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he studied classics and law. He graduated with a BA Honours in jurisprudence in 1887 and an MA and Bachelor of Civil Law in 1889. In 1889 he moved to London where he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1889 and practiced on the South-Eastern Circuit.

While at university he joined the Oxford University Volunteers, a volunteer unit of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, obtaining the rank of captain. From 1889-1897 he held a commission in the 22nd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, acting as musketry instructor.

An expert sport shooter, Barnett represented Ireland in the contest for the Elcho Shield on 37 occasions, and twice made the record score. He was one of twelve competitors for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1908 Summer Olympics He finished fourth in the 1000 yard free rifle competition. A member of the council of the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom, he was the captain of the winning team in the Lords vs Commons shooting team at Bisley in 1921-28.