Bot at 14:48, 10 February 2022

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{{Short description|Officer of the British Indian Army}}
[[File:Osmond Barnes - Chief Herald of Delhi Assemblage.jpg|thumb|270px|right|Osmond Barnes, photographed in [[tabard]] as Chief Herald of India at the [[Delhi Durbar]] of 1877.]]
[[Colonel]] '''Osmond Barnes''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB}} (23 December 1834 – 20 May 1930) was a British officer of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] and Chief [[Herald]] of [[British Raj|India]].

==Early life==
The son of John Barnes, of [[Portland Place]], [[London]], and Chorleywood House, [[Hertfordshire]], Barnes was born in [[Bryanston Square]], [[London]], on 23 December 1834, and educated at [[Rugby School]].<ref name=ww>''BARNES, Colonel Osmond'' in ''Who Was Who 1897-2006'' online, retrieved 25 January 2007, from [http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6127627 BARNES, Colonel Osmond] at credoreference.com (a subscription site)</ref>

His parents, John Barnes and Sarah Medley, were married on 21 July 1824, and had eleven children, Edmund John, Augusta, Sarah,
Lucy Antoinette, Charles Augustus, Edward Medley, John Henry, Osmond, Harold, Ada Mary, and Jocelyn.

In 1831, in reporting the early death of Barnes's sister Augusta at the age of five, ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' described their father as "John Barnes, esq., banker, Faringdon, and of Chorley Wood House".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=24w0N2xEBTMC&pg=PA380&lpg=PA380 Obituary] in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' for 1831, p. 380, online at books.google.com (accessed 26 January 2008)</ref>

An obituary of Osmond Barnes states that at the time of his birth, his father, John Barnes, was a [[High Sheriff]].<ref>Obituary of Osmond Barnes in ''[[The Times]]'', 27 May 1930</ref> However, according to ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' and the ''[[Annual Register]]'', John Barnes of Chorley Wood House was appointed [[High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire]] in the year 1844.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hVwkJ-J3_eIC&pg=PA307&lpg=PA307 Sheriffs for the Year 1844] in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' for 1844, p. 307, online at books.google.com (accessed 26 January 2008)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jc0kh800jGIC&pg=RA3-PA160&lpg=RA3-PA160 Sheriffs for the Year 1844] in ''The Annual Register'' for 1844, p. 160, online at books.google.com (accessed 26 January 2008)</ref> [[Chorleywood]], although in Hertfordshire, is close to its boundary with [[Buckinghamshire]].

==Career==
===Military service===
Barnes joined the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] in 1855 and served through the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Mutiny]] of 1857 to 1859.<ref name=ww/>

At the time of his marriage in August 1862, he was described as "Lieut. Bombay Staff Corps and Commandant of the [[Lahore Light Horse]]"<ref name=GMnov1862/>

Barnes was gazetted a [[Lieutenant]] of the 13th Native Infantry in 1863<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22698|page=3776|date=13 January 1863}}</ref> and saw active service in [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]] in 1868 and in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War|Afghan War]] of 1878–1879, where he was [[mentioned in despatches]]. He was promoted Captain on 5 March 1867,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23270|page=220|date=5 July 1867}}</ref> gazetted a Captain of the Bengal Staff Corps on 14 November 1871,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23796|page=4664|date=14 November 1871}}</ref> promoted Major on 5 March 1875<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24209|page=2682|date=18 May 1875}}</ref> and ranked as Major from 4 March 1875.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24240|page=4285|date=27 August 1875}}</ref> He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in the Bengal Staff Corps on 4 March 1881.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24970|page=2392|date=6 May 1881}}</ref> He served in the Zhob Valley Campaign of 1884, being again mentioned in despatches.<ref name=ww/> He was promoted Colonel in the Bengal Staff Corps on 4 March 1885.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25469|page=2160|date=12 May 1885}}</ref>

He commanded the [[10th Bengal Lancers]].<ref name=ww/>

Barnes retired the service on 4 March 1893, announced in the ''Gazette'' as "<small>INDIAN STAFF CORPS</small> Colonel Osmond Barnes is transferred to the Unemployed Supernumerary List. Dated 4 March 1893".<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26388|page=2082|date=4 April 1893}}</ref> When appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] in June 1893, he was described as "Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel Osmond Barnes, Indian Staff Corps".<ref name=CB1893>{{London Gazette|issue=26409|page=3251|date=3 June 1893}}</ref>

===Herald===
Barnes became Chief Herald of India.<ref name=ww/> In this role, in 1877, he had the task of proclaiming [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] as Empress of India at [[Delhi]].<ref name=ww/>

A wood-engraving of Barnes appeared in ''[[The Graphic]]'' newspaper for 10 March 1877, showing him in a [[tabard]] as Chief Herald of India. He was described as 'Major Osmond Barnes (Tenth Bengal Cavalry)".<ref>''[[The Graphic]]'' newspaper, London, dated 10 March 1877, vol XV, no. 380</ref>

==Private life==
Osmond Barnes married Emily Mainwaring, they had six children - Harold, Percy, Osmond Mainwaring, Charles, Mabel, and Irene.

The marriage was announced in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' for November 1862<ref name=GMnov1862>''The Gentleman's Magazine'' for November 1862, p. 626, online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xd8hAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA626&lpg=RA1-PA626 The Gentleman's Magazine] (accessed 28 January 2008)</ref> - {{cquote|M<small>ARRIAGES</small> Aug. 5, at [[Barrackpore]], [[Bengal]], Osmond Barnes, esq., Lieut. Bombay Staff Corps and Commandant of the Lahore Light Horse, son of J. Barnes, esq., of Chorleywood-house, Herts., to Emily Sophia Isabella, only dau. of Col. E. R. Mainwaring, H.M.'s Bengal Army.}}

Barnes retired to England and lived to be ninety-five, although his wife had died in 1912.

==Honours==
*[[1868 Expedition to Abyssinia|Abyssinia campaign]] medal, 1868<ref name=ww/>
*[[Mentioned in despatches]], 1868 and 1884<ref name=ww/>
*[[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]], 1893 [[Queen's Birthday Honours]]<ref name=ww/><ref name=CB1893/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Osmond}}
[[Category:1834 births]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Rugby School]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Officers of arms]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Abyssinian War]]
[[Category:People from Marylebone]]
[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:Bombay Staff Corps officers]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]

Osmond Barnes - Revision history

Bot at 14:48, 10 February 2022