Sir John Barran, 2nd Baronet

Sir
John Barran
Baronet
Sir John Barran Baronet
Member of Parliament; for Hawick Burghs
	In office; 5 March 1909 – 14 December 1918
Preceded by	Thomas Shaw
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	16 August 1872; Leeds, Yorkshire West Riding, England
Died	8 July 1952 (aged 79); Ripon, North Yorkshire, England
Party	Liberal Party
Spouses	; Alice Margarita Parks (m. 1902, died) ; Esther Frances Fisher (m. 1946)
Relations	John Barran (grandfather)
Children	4, including David

Sir John Nicholson Barran, 2nd Baronet (16 August 1872 – 8 July 1952) was a British Liberal Party politician.

Early life

John Nicholson Barran was born on 16 August 1872 in Leeds.^[1]

He was the son of John Barran and the grandson of Sir John Barran, 1st Baronet. His mother was Eliza Henrietta Nicholson, daughter of Edward Nicholson. He was educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[2]

Career

He succeeded his grandfather in the baronetcy in 1905.

Barran was elected to the House of Commons at a by-election in March 1909 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hawick Burghs

Personal life

He married firstly, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston on 18 November 1902, Alice Margarita Parks, daughter of Reverend Leighton Parks, rector of Emmanuel church.^[3]^[4] They had three sons and one daughter. After his first wife's death in 1939, he married secondly in 1946 Esther Frances Fisher, daughter of New Zealand politician Frank Fisher.

His eldest son Sir John Leighton Barran (1904–1974) succeeded in the baronetcy. His youngest son Sir David Barran became a prominent businessman and served as Managing Director and Chairman of Shell.

Death

Barran died in July 1952, aged 79 in Ripon.^[5]

Electoral history

1909 Hawick Burghs by-election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Sir John Barran	3,028	54.7
	Liberal Unionist	Halford John Mackinder	2,508	45.3
Majority			520	9.4
Turnout				92.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

He was re-elected with a large majority in January 1910

January 1910 general election: Hawick Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir John Barran	3,261	59.0	+4.3
	Liberal Unionist	James Edward Graham	2,268	41.0	−4.3
Majority			993	18.0	+8.6
Turnout				91.7	−1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.3

He was returned unopposed in December 1910.^[7] He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1910 to 1916. After the war he tried unsuccessfully to return to parliament, standing as Liberal candidate for Kingston upon Hull North West at the general elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924.^[8]

1922 general election: Kingston upon Hull North West^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Albert Lambert Ward	14,904	57.1
	Liberal	Sir John Barran	11,204	42.9
Majority			3,700	14.2
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

1923 general election: Kingston upon Hull North West^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Albert Lambert Ward	12,674	50.2
	Liberal	Sir John Barran	12,559	49.8
Majority			115	0.4
Turnout				73.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

1924 general election: Kingston upon Hull North West^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Albert Lambert Ward	15,072	53.3
	Liberal	Sir John Barran	8,080	28.5
	Labour	Ferdinand Louis Kerran	5,151	18.2
Majority			6,992	24.8
Turnout				81.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

Apart from his political career he was a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire.

References

^ "John Nicholson Barran: in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
^ "Barran, John Nicholson (BRN891JN)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ "John Nicholson Barran: in the U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
^ "Marriages". The Times. No. 36931. London. 21 November 1902. p. 1.
^ "Sir John Nicholson Barran: in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
^ The Times, 6 March 1909
^ British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, Craig, F. W. S.
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir John Barran

[1] "John Nicholson Barran: in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.

[2] "Barran, John Nicholson (BRN891JN)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[3] "John Nicholson Barran: in the U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.

[4] "Marriages". The Times. No. 36931. London. 21 November 1902. p. 1.

[5] "Sir John Nicholson Barran: in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 January 2026.

[6] The Times, 6 March 1909

[7] British parliamentary election results 1885–1918, Craig, F. W. S.

[8] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

[9] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

[10] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

[11] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

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Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918, 1919–1920 Astor 1918 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924, 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
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