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Frederick Johnson "F.J". Barnes (8 January 1873 – 30 December 1917) was an English
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
, who co-wrote numerous songs with R. P. Weston and
Fred Godfrey Fred or Frederick Godfrey may refer to: * Fred Godfrey (bandmaster) (1837–1882), English bandmaster and music arranger * Fred Godfrey (footballer) (1910–1989), Australian footballer *Fred Godfrey (songwriter) (1880–1953), Welsh songwriter ...
.


Biography

He was born in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, Central London. Between about 1906 and 1915, he worked with co-writer R. P. Weston, mainly on songs for the popular
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
performer
Billy Williams Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is an American former left fielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1959 to 1976, almost entirely for the Chicago Cubs. A six-time All-Star, Williams was named the 1961 National L ...
. Barnes and Weston co-wrote "Little Willie's Woodbines" (1908); "
I've Got Rings On My Fingers "I've Got Rings On My Fingers" is a popular song written in 1909, words by R. P. Weston and Fred J. Barnes, and music by Maurice Scott. It concerns an Irishman named Jim O'Shea, a castaway who finds himself on an island somewhere in the East Indi ...
" (1909); " When Father Papered the Parlour" (1910); and "Hush Here Comes the Dream Man", recorded in 1911 by
Florrie Forde Florrie Forde (born Flora May Augusta Flannagan;16 August 187518 April 1940) was an Australian-born British vaudevillian performer and popular singer, notable in music hall and pantomime. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom, wh ...
, parodied by
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
soldiers as "Hush Here Comes a Whizzbang", and sung in the
Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West ...
production of ''
Oh, What a Lovely War! ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" ...
'' in 1963. Barnes also worked alongside Fred Godfrey on songs such as "Jim’s A Funny Fellow When He’s Had A Few" (1911) Barnes signed up for military service in the First World War, and joined the
Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...
. He died on 30 December 1917, from drowning after the torpedo attack on the troop carrier HMT Aragon, off the coast of
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. He is buried at the Alexandria War Memorial Cemetery. F J Barnes, ''Wrecksite.eu''
Retrieved 16 January 2021


Namesake

He is not to be confused with singer Frederick Jester Barnes (1885-1938) who as Fred Barnes, sang "You Can't Fool Around With The Women", composed by Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott. Fred J. Barnes, ''Fred Godfrey Songs''
Retrieved 16 January 2021


References

1873 births 1917 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Southwark British male songwriters British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I Essex Regiment soldiers Deaths due to shipwreck at sea {{England-songwriter-stub