John Barrow ( 1764 - 1848 )

Birth: Dragley Beck, in the parish of Ulverston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom (19 June 1764) Death: 23 November 1848 Burial Place: Pratt Street, Camden Town Career: Time-keeper at an iron foundry, Liverpool; voyaged to the Arctic in a whaler; taught maths in a school, Greensich; Private Secretary to George, Lord Macartney (FRS 1792); learned Chinese; published "Travels in China" (1804); accompanied Macartney to Cape Colony [Cape of Good Hope, South Africa]; Second Secretary to the Admiralty (1804-1845); Point Barrow, Cape Barrow and Barrow Strait in the Arctic were named after him; as a geographer he was responsible for promoting the dispatch of naval vesels to seek the North West Passage and to navigate towards the North pole; founder of the Royal Geographical Society Honours: Bt 1835 Membership: Fellow Election Date: 04/07/1805 Council: VP 1839-1841.