Edmund Barrow


Sir Edmund George Barrow was a senior British Army officer who went on to be Military Secretary to the India Office.

Early life and education

Barrow was born in British India to Major-General Joseph Lyons Barrow, R.A., of the Madras Army, and his wife, Alicia. He was educated at Marlborough College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

Barrow was commissioned into the 102nd Regiment of Foot in 1871, at age 19. Having joined the Indian Army in 1877, he served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878 and the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. He was a member of the Lockhart Boundary Commission to Chitral, Kafirstan, Hunza and Wakhan in 1885 and the Anglo-Siamese Boundary Commission in 1889. He was made Commanding Officer of the Hong Kong Regiment in 1892, and took part in the Tirah Expedition to the North West Frontier of India in 1897. He was appointed deputy adjutant-general, Bengal Command, on 1 April 1900, but only three months later, in July 1900 was transferred as Chief of Staff for the China Expeditionary Force in response to the Boxer Rebellion, after which he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
He was appointed Secretary to the Military Department of the Government of India in November 1901, with the temporary rank of Major-general whilst so employed, and General Officer Commanding 1st Division in India in 1904. He was appointed General Officer Commanding the Southern Army in India in 1908.
He served in World War I as Military Secretary to the India Office from 1914. He was appointed a member of the Council of India in 1917 and retired in 1919.