Horace Barks
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Horace Barks, OBE (1895-1983) was a British Labour politician. He was Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2.[1]
Horace Barks | |
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| Born | 1895 |
| Died | 1983 (aged 87–88) |
| Known for | Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent Esperanto |
Barks was born in Ipstones in the Staffordshire countryside and came from a working-class background. His experiences in World War I left him with pacifist beliefs and experience of railway operations. After the war he became a train guard and, in 1921, a member of the Labour Party, the dominant party in Stoke-on-Trent during the twentieth century. He was elected a councillor in 1930 and made an Alderman in 1948. He served as Mayor for 1951–52.[2]
Barks' cultural interests included Esperanto and the writer Arnold Bennett. Barks and his son Guy were active in the Arnold Bennett Society, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent. The reference library in the city is named after Barks.
Esperanto[edit]
Barks was involved with starting classes at the Wedgwood Memorial College in Barlaston, which remains an important centre of Esperanto education.[3]
Through Barks' influence his local pub in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, acquired the name "The Green Star" (an Esperanto symbol) and a sign in Esperanto "La Verda Stelo". It is mentioned in a poem by Raymond Schwartz.[4] Smallthorne also has a street named after Zamenhof.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ People of Stoke-on-Trent
- ^ "People who made the Potteries - Horace Barks". Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ^ "A Tribute to a Noble Worker for Esperanto: Horace Barks", was included in (in Esperanto) Rubenaj Refrenoj (Ruby Refrains), Gubbins, Paul (ed.), Berkeley: Bero Publishers, 2001
- ^ ::Ĉe l' Verda Stel' en Stoke-on-Trent ::-se ĉio sekvos sian fluon- ::la filoj de potfara gent' ::el potoj ĉerpos novan ĝuon
- ^ Green Star Public House, Esperanto Way, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent
There are two posthumous autobiographical publications by Barks, both based on taped reminiscences.
- Fragments of Autobiography, 1986
- North Staffordshire regiments in the First World War: Part 1: The Military Experience of Horace Barks, 1914-1918 - Michael Occleshaw, Staffordshire Studies, Keele 1988.
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