Ernest Barnes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ernest Barnes |
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| Bishop of Birmingham | |
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| Church | Church of England |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Birmingham |
| In Office | 1924–1953 |
| Predecessor | Henry Wakefield |
| Successor | Leonard Wilson |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
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| Consecration | 1924 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Ernest William Barnes |
| Born | 1 April 1874 Birmingham, England, UK |
| Died | 29 November 1953 (aged 79) Sussex, England, UK |
| Denomination | Anglicanism |
Ernest William Barnes FRS (1 April 1874 – 29 November 1953) was a British mathematician and scientist who later became a liberal theologian and bishop.
He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was Master of the Temple from 1915 to 1919. He was made Bishop of Birmingham in 1924, the only bishop appointed during Ramsay MacDonald's first term in office. His modernist views, in particular objection to Reservation, led to conflict with the Anglo-Catholics in his diocese. A biography by his son, Sir John Barnes, Ahead of His Age: Bishop Barnes of Birmingham, was published in 1979.
Birth and education
Barnes was the eldest of four sons of John Starkie Barnes and Jane Elizabeth Kerry, both elementary school head-teachers. In 1883 Barnes' father was appointed Inspector of Schools in Birmingham, a position that he occupied throughout the rest of his working life. Barnes was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and in 1893 went up to Cambridge as a Scholar of Trinity College. He was bracketed Second Wrangler in 1896 and was placed in the first division of the first class in Part II of the Mathematical Tripos in 1897. In the following year he was awarded the first Smith's Prize and was duly elected to a Trinity Fellowship. During his time as a Fellow he served on the committee of Cambridge University Liberal Club from 1899 to 1901. He was appointed a lecturer in mathematics in 1902, junior dean in 1906–1908 and a tutor in 1908. He graduated ScD of the University of Cambridge in 1907 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1909. In the years that followed, Barnes was assigned to be Ramanujan's tutor and agreed with G. H. Hardy's assessment of his brilliance.
Ministry
In the same year he became a lecturer in mathematics, Barnes was made deacon by the Bishop of London and from 1906 to 1908 was Junior Dean of Trinity. In 1915, Barnes left Cambridge, and his career as a professional mathematician, upon his appointment as Master of the Temple in London. This was followed in 1918 by a canonry of Westminster Abbey and finally, in 1924, by consecration to the Bishopric of Birmingham, an office he held until April 1953, when he had to retire on account of ill-health. He died at his home in Sussex at the age of 79, survived by his wife and two sons. A bronze memorial tablet to him, as the third bishop of Birmingham, was erected in the south aisle of Birmingham Cathedral, near where his ashes, together with those of his wife, are placed under the pavement marked by a slab with the initials "EWB".
Pacifism and eugenics
He was an uncompromising pacifist, and spoke out against British participation in the Second World War. He also expressed eugenic views. Several of these eugenic-themed lectures gained significant newspaper coverage in The Times and The Manchester Guardian, sparking a fervent public debate. In his latter years Barnes was thus a pacifist, religious leader and campaigner for the perceived declining cause of eugenics.
Personal life
In 1916, Barnes married Adelaide Caroline Theresa Ward, daughter of Sir Adolphus Ward. Together they had two sons: John was a diplomat, who served as ambassador to Israel and the Netherlands; and William, a public servant and philanthropist.
See also
- Barnes G-function
- Barnes integral
