John Barrow, 1st baronet (1764–1848)

Promoter of exploration and travel writer. A founder of the Royal Geographical Society. Civil servant in South Africa, 1797–1803. Second secretary of the Admiralty, 1804–6, 1807–45. Promoted imperial expansion, the exploration of Australia and the course of the Niger river, and the search for a north-west passage. Created baronet, 1835. FRS 1805.