Highly skilled organizer for the relief of war sick and wounded, aeronaut, inventor of improved horse nose bag and writer on river pollution. Just some of the activities of Sir Vincent Kennett Barrington, who by the time of his death in 1903 had become Deputy Chairman of St John Ambulance Association.
Over the past few months, I have been one of the volunteers (along with Pat Halpin) on the Museum of the Order of St John Archives Revealed Project. The St John Archive is a treasure trove of records including reports, newspaper cuttings, letters, diaries and minute books which describe St John as an organization. These records also provide a fascinating insight into some of the people who established and volunteered in the early days of the St John Ambulance Association (SJAA) and St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB). I am inspired by both past and present St John people and in this blog, I will be sharing some of the archive records I have encountered to explore the story of a very memorable St John person- Sir Vincent Kennett Barrington.
Image caption: Left Image, Sir Vincent and his wife Alice- image source ‘First Aid to the Battlefront, Peter Morris.’ Right Image, Sir Vincent on the occasion of his knighthood in 1886 The Pictorial World newspaper
Sir Vincent Kennett Barrington was born in 1844 to wealthy parents. He was educated at Eton, studied at Trinity College Cambridge graduating in 1867 and was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1872. Up until this point, his path in life was very expected.
But then he took an unexpected path into the field of humanitarian work. It is not clear why, but perhaps a relevant insight into his character and change of career direction is illustrated by an incident in 1873 when he dived in the River Thames to try and save a man’s life. He was awarded a medal from the Royal Humane Society for this act.
In the years following this incident, Sir Vincent worked in the relief of the sick and wounded in four revolutions and seven wars. Whilst these experiences provided him with many entertaining tales to tell, they also made him fully aware of the horrors of war.
The archive contains a newspaper report from 1890 relating to a SJAA meeting in Ipswich where Sir Vincent was presenting medallions and certificates to successful students from the police, railway, and fire brigade services. During his speech at this meeting, he vigorously denounced war and described it as: ‘a slur upon civilization and a disgrace to Christianity.’
His involvement with overseas conflict started in 1870, when he began working for the National Society for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded in War. An organization formed out of the original Geneva Convention adopted in 1864. He was put in charge of forming an ambulance depot at Tours and stores distribution among the hospitals at Tours and Orleans. At only 26 years old he clearly felt the excitement of his new adventure, writing to his mother in October 1870:
Despite the intensity of his work he was observant of the locations he travelled through, appreciating the funny moments, and liked to make doodles in his diaries and letters.
Image caption: Sir Vincent doodles (India 1883, Spain 1871)
Over the years he wrote many letters home to his mother and then to his wife Alice. Describing his experiences in Spain during the Carlist War 1873-76; Servian War 1876-77 and Turco-Russian War 1877-78.
By 1876 he has a connection with the Order of St John, based on the formation of the Eastern War Sick and Wounded Relief Fund. He was briefly Honorary Secretary, before heading off to the war front. The monies raised helped send medics to the Servian war.
During the Servian war he begins to gain some media profile and is the subject of an illustration in the Illustrated London News.
Image caption: Sir Vincent giving out aid during the Servian War – Illustrated London News December 1876
In 1879, with some time off from organizing the relief for war sick and wounded, he filed a patent for ‘Nose Bags &c for Horses and Other Animals’. For me this shows an energetic and creative person, who also knows how to register his ideas and has an eye to the details needed to make (in this case) the transport of the sick as efficient as practical.
In 1883 he travelled to India for Edison’s Indian and Colonial Electric Company Ltd, investigating opportunities for urban electric street lighting. Both in his letters home and his diary there are descriptions and sketches of the many people and landscapes he saw.
He also found time to write a paper considering ‘River pollution by refuse from manufactories and mines. Together with some remedies proposed. [International Fisheries Exhibition Papers] London 1883. Quite a modern concern!
His work in the relief of sick and wounded in war continued in Egypt, Sudan and Sofia. Throughout all these trips he regularly wrote home affectionally to his wife.
Image caption: Top: Extract from Sir Vincent diary during Sudan 1885 campaign. Bottom: Letter to Alice ‘never felt better’ 1885
Vincent Kennett Barrington was knighted in 1886 and in 1889 became Deputy Chair of the London Chamber of Commerce. Sir Vincent’s activities at home as Deputy Chair with SJAA are described in numerous newspaper cuttings throughout the 1880s and 1890s. For example:
Daily News 1 March 1887: Giving a talk to Great Western employees at Paddington entitled ‘The importance of practical training in ambulance work’.
Glasgow Herald December 1889: Sir Vincent ‘on the eve of his departure for the East has been working hard for the St John’s Ambulance Associations [sic] collecting money and securing interest in high quarters for a very necessary and useful work’.
Reports describe an address at Toynbee Hall in 1898– which he said was setting an excellent example in training young women so ‘that they could render assistance to regular district nurses.’ He also noted that ‘the appreciation of ambulance work was nowhere greater than in the North of England, where the operatives realized that first aid frequently resulted in the saving of life or limb.’
One of Sir Vincent’s main hobbies was being an aeronaut – that is hot air ballooning.
The New York herald [November 9, 1902] reports Sir Vincent will make ascensions during his New York visit and describe him as ‘perhaps the best known of the English aeronauts’. He was in New York as a part of the London Chamber of Commerce delegation at celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the New York Chamber of Commerce.
Being an aeronaut unfortunately led to his death in July 1903. This followed complications from an accident during a balloon landing a few weeks earlier.
Image caption: The Aero Club at Crystal Palace from The Daily Graphic May 1902
These sources have been rediscovered through a process of box listing records in the archive during the Archives Revealed project. They show Sir Vincent as a creative, energetic and effective person. His work shows an empathetic attitude to all those involved in conflict overseas and desire to spread first aid knowledge amongst a wide range of communities and workplaces at home through involvement with SJAA. Whilst Sir Vincent’s collection of personal papers are not due to be catalogued as part of our core Archives Revealed project, they will sit within a separate personal papers area of our archives for the time being and access can be requested via contacting the Archivist.