Family and Education

b. c.1680, 1st s. of Sir John Barlow, 1st Bt., of Slebech and Minwere, by his 2nd w. Katherine, da. of Christopher Middleton of Middleton Hall, Carm.; bro. of John Barlow*.  educ. Eton.  m. 31 May 1695, Winifred, da. of George Heneage of Hainton Hall, Lincs., 1s.  suc. fa. as 2nd Bt. by 27 June 1695.1

Offices Held

Biography

Although their estate in Pembrokeshire had originally consisted of former monastic land, the Barlows of Slebech had remained Catholic well into the 17th century, and were still regarded as ‘Church papists’ in the early 1670s. The Member’s uncle, William Barlow, knight of the shire in the 1685 Parliament, was almost certainly a recusant. He was also notorious for his Jacobite sympathies, being described in 1693 as ‘a known enemy to their Majesties and their government’. The first baronet, his brother, was a little more cautious. A conformist, he seems to have tried to prove his loyalty in 1690 by informing the government of a Jacobite ‘libel’ in circulation locally. None the less, he too was presented by a Pembrokeshire grand jury three years later as one who had refused the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. He died between 17 Sept. 1694, the date of his will, and 27 June 1695, when it was proved. Possibly Sir George had succeeded as 2nd baronet by the time of his marriage. His Catholic bride brought him property in Lincolnshire, some of which he attempted in vain to dispose of in 1698, through a private bill, in order to pay off various ‘debts and legacies’. Otherwise the match was a failure, the young Lady Barlow ‘eloping from her husband’ after the birth of their only child.2

Barlow was included in the Pembrokeshire commission of the peace on his coming of age in 1701, but did not stand for Parliament until the 1713 election, when he was brought in by the Jacobite Lewis Pryse* for Cardigan Boroughs. He is not known to have spoken in the Commons. On 25 May 1714 he was given a month’s leave of absence because of ill-health. Reckoned to be ‘the head of the Tory party’ in Pembrokeshire, he was classed as a Tory in the Worsley list. Defeated at Pembroke Boroughs at the 1715 election, Barlow was chosen for Haverfordwest at a by-election later the same year but he was subsequently turned out on petition in favour of a Whig namesake, John Barlow†. His name was included in the list given in to the Pretender, 1721, presumably as a possible sympathizer. Barlow had died before 3 Mar. 1726, when administration of his estate was granted to his estranged wife. It is possible that in his last years he had made over Slebech to his brother John* and removed to Lincolnshire. Certainly by 1739 his heir, the third baronet, was reported as residing in that county.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: D. W. Hayton

Notes

• 1. M. Barlow, Barlow Fam. Recs. 45; W. Wales Hist. Recs. iii. 146–8; BL, Verney mss mic. 636/48, John Verney* (Ld. Fermanagh) to Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Bt.†, 5 June 1695.
• 2. W. Wales Hist. Recs. 117–22, 140–8; J. M. Cleary, Catholic Recusancy of Barlow Fam. (Newman Assoc. Cardiff Circle, Ppr. 1), 14–16; CSP Dom. 1689–90, pp.130, 445; Trans. Cymmro. Soc. 1947, pp. 219–20; Verney mss mic. 636/48, John to Sir Ralph Verney, 5 June 1695; CJ, xii. 118, 349.
• 3. L. K. J. Glassey, Appt. JPs, 148, 249–50; Ceredigion, v. 404; Hereford and Worcester RO (Worcester St. Helen’s), Hampton mss 705:349/BA5117/3/xi/21, John Stephens to Lady Pakington, 29 Oct. 1714; P. S. Fritz, Ministers and Jacobitism 1715–45, p.153; Barlow, 45; Add. 24120, f. 36; 24121, f. 371.