1952
(494)
(Solicitor).
Born in Leicester, 5th May 1902. Son of Harold Darracott Morris Barnett, Solicitor, and Ethel Mary Barnett. Educated at Haileybury College. Elected to the City Council in November 1934 and to the Aldermanic Bench in June 1945. Served in the Royal Army Service Corps and the Judge Advocate General's Branch of His Majesty's Army during the Second World War and demobilized with the rank of Major.
Chairman for some years of the City of Leicester Conservative and Unionist Association and later President of that Association. He was also leader of the Conservative Group of the City Council during the years 1951/52.
Alderman Barnett served on many of the Council's Committees; notably as Chairman of the Housing Committee and as Chairman of the Publicity Committee. He was also Chairman of the Special Committee set up for the purpose of arranging the local celebrations of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11. He occupied the Office of High Bailiff in 1945/6, during the Mayoralty of Councillor C. E. Worthington, C.B.E., J.P.
Alderman Barnett's period of Office was notable for the amount of money raised as a result of appeals with which he was associated. More than £800 was collected in the City and County for the purchase of a Fanfare of Trumpets which was presented to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to mark the Battalion's service in the Korean War. Almost £12,000 was subscribed to the North Devon and West Somerset Flood Distress Fund and over £7,000 to the King George VI National Memorial Fund. The appeal launched for the relief of the victims of the East Coast Flood on the 31st January 1953 resulted in nearly £58,000 being raised in the City and the surrounding district.
Alderman Barnett received the Honour of Knighthood on the 30th June 1953.
In 1941 he married Isobel Marshall, M.B., Ch.B., and has one son.
