Anthony Barrowclough

Who was Anthony Barrowclough?

Sir Anthony Richard Barrowclough KCB QC was a lawyer who served as Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England, Scotland and Wales.

Barrowclough was born with his twin brother Jack in 1924 in Nottinghamshire, the son of Sidney Barrowclough, a farmer. The family later moved to Kent where Sidney became the proprietor of a dairy business in the outskirts of London. Barrowclough was educated at Stowe with his brother before he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1943. He trained as a navigation officer and served on motor torpedo boats with coastal forces.

After the war, Barrowclough went to New College, Oxford where he took first class honours in law and was awarded a certificate of honour. In 1949 he was called to the Bar by Inner Temple and joined chambers at 7 King's Bench Walk. Barrowclough undertook a range of commercial work and specialised in aeronautical law, an area in which he lectured at Oxford.

Barrowclough became a part-time member of the Monopolies' Commission in 1966. When two high street menswear retailers, United Drapery Stores and Montague Burton, sought to merge in 1969, the Commission rejected the proposal. When Barrowclough dissented from this decision, he was effectively stood down from the Commission by the Chairman, Sir Ashton Roskill.