Author: Barrow, John
Biography:
BARROW, John (b 1758: ancestry.co.uk)
Barrow's only published work includes a frontispiece portrait of the author, drawn and engraved by Barrow himself, and an episodic and incomplete account of his life. One poem gives his birthdate as 23 May, identifying him as the John Barrow who was born to Thomas and Mary Barrow on that date in 1758 and baptised on 19 June at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. His memoir states that he was removed from a boarding school at the age of eight to become a chorister at St. James's court, and he remained there until his voice broke when he was nearly seventeen. Barrow was apprenticed to a jeweller but disliked the confinement and purchased his discharge after four years. He claims to have known Benjamin Franklin and to have spent much time with the American community in London. Some of his poems describe a woman he calls "Snare" whom he married but he also seems to have had close relationships with other women, including "Jane" and a widow, "Mrs. H." "Snare" was Elizabeth Lee and she married Barrow at St. Pancras, London, on 23 May 1782; the poems indicate that the relationship was unhappy and did not last. Barrow spent time in Oxford, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. His book was published by subscription, but there is no list of names and he acknowledges that the book contains fewer poems than promised. It is not known where or when he died. (ancestry.co.uk 24 Nov. 2025; findmypast.co.uk 24 Nov. 2025) SR