Introduction 

Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry OBE. 

Do they already have a Wikipedia page? If yes, please paste link: No. 

Gender: Male. 

Date and Place of Birth: 16th March 1879, Delahay St, Westminster, London. 

Date and Place of Death: He died at his home, 4 Embankment Gardens, Chelsea, London. Wednesday 1st July 1936. 

Nationality: British. 

Do we have images/photos of this person?: Yes – in Dornock Farewell 

 

Biography 

Childhood: Was one of eight children. Ida Violet Wolfe Barry (1880 – 1959), Eric Gordon Wolfe-barry (1886 – 1964), Bernard John Wolfe-barry (1877 – 1960), Sylvia Grace Barry (1889 – Unknown), Rosalind Mary Wolfe-barry (1875 – 1958), Alexander Edward “Fox” Wolfe-barry (1882 – 1952), Gordon Temple Wolfe-barry (1887 – 1964) 

Parents: Sir John Wolfe-Barry. Rosalind Grace Rowsell. 

Parent’s occupations: Father was an engineer (president of Institution of civil engineers). His father was most famous for his work on the Tower Bridge amongst other projects. Mother’s job: N/A. 

Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: “was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge”. 

Occupation: Chairman of the Westminster Hospital. He was a senior partner in Sir John Wolfe Barry and partners. Partner in business with his father, along with A. G. Lyster, Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and G. E. W. Cruttwell, M. Inst. C.E. J. S. 

Place of residence at Gretna: N/A. 

Job title at Gretna: During the War he obtained a commission in the Royal Garrison Artillery, but was transferred for service under the Ministry of Munitions in 1915, and a year later took charge of the cordite factory at Gretna, a position which he held until 1919. On page 49-50 of the Dornock Farewell under the title ‘Factory Rescue Brigade’ it’s written that: “Early in 1918 Captain Wolfe-Barry interested himself in the formation of a special Factory Rescue Brigade, and since it was felt that probably most need for the Brigade would lie on the Acids Area, I was asked to undertake the training of a Brigade and become Brigade Captain”  

Marital status: Spouse was Helen Mary Strain (1879-1964).  

Children: Kenneth Norman Wolfe-Barry (1904-1982), John Gerald Wolfe-Barry (1906-1991), Margaret Euphans Wolfe-Barry (1910-1987). 

Travels: Las Palmas; Calabar; Grand Bassam; Teneriffe Lagos; Port Harcourt; Sekondi; Monrovia; Freetown; Dakar; Bathurst; Accra. 

Awards/recognitions: “For his War service, with the Royal Garrison Artillery, and at H.M. Factory, Gretna (Ministry of Munitions, Department of Explosives Supply), he earned the OBE. 

Trivia / any other information:  

Second son of John Wolfe Barry. 

Did a lot of engineering work in Great Britain and India. 

Elected to the council of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1935. 

He worked with energy on behalf of Westminster Hospital, of which he became chairman in 1929. 

From 1899 to 1903 he was articled to his father’s firm, and was employed as assistant resident engineer on the extensions to Middlesbrough Docks, and on the Whitechapel and Bow Railway. 

He then became a junior partner in the firm, and was concerned with constructional work for a large number of important railway, dock, and harbour schemes. His personal appointments, held jointly with others, included those of consulting engineer to the Bombay Port Trust, the Shanghai Nanking Railway, and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. 

In addition, he was concerned, through the firm, with consultative work for the Kowloon Canton Railway and the Bengal Nagpur Railway, in connection with the provision of locomotives, rolling stock, and machinery. He was associated with the construction of Immingham Dock, the Alexandra Dock at Newport, Mon., and more recently, the new Fish Dock at Grimsby. 

The British Nursing Journal: The Westminster Hospital has sustained a great loss by the death of its devoted Chairman, Mr. Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry, O.B.E., who served it with devotion in that capacity for the past eight years, having previously been for 16 years a member of the House Committee. He took the keenest interest in the preparation of the plans for the first king of the new hospital, and new Nurses’ Home and Medical School to be rebuilt on the St. John’s Garden site. The funeral service took place at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, and the internment at Brookwood Cemetery. Page 189. 

In 1920 he was elected to Membership of the Institution, and he was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 

He left £200 to Westminster Hospital in his will (The Scotsman - Saturday 10 October 1936).