Life

Son of William Barlow

William Barlow (bishop of Chichester)

William Barlow was an English Augustinian prior turned bishop of four dioceses, a complex figure of the Protestant Reformation. Aspects of his life await scholarly clarification...

 and Agatha Wellesbourne, he was born at St David's

St David's

St Davids , is a city and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Lying on the River Alun on St David's Peninsula, it is Britain's smallest city in terms of both size and population, the final resting place of Saint David, the country's patron saint, and the de facto ecclesiastical capital of...

 when his father was bishop of that diocese, and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

. He graduated B. A. in 1564. About 1573 he entered into holy orders, and was made a prebendary of Winchester

Winchester

Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

 (1581) and rector of Easton

Easton, Hampshire

Easton is a village in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Itchen, 2¾ miles north east of Winchester.In 1870-72, John Goring's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Easton like this:...

.

In 1588 Barlow was transferred to a prebendal stall at Lichfield, which in the following year he resigned, on being appointed treasurer of Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...

. He afterwards became chaplain to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...

, son of James I, and finally archdeacon of Salisbury (1615).

Barlow died 25 May 1625, and was buried in the chancel of his church at Easton.

Works

His works are:

• The Navigator's Supply, London, 1597;
• Magnetical Advertisements concerning the nature and property of the Loadstone, London, 1618;
• A Brief Discovery of the Idle Animadversions of Mark Ridley, M.D., London, 1618.

Barlow's work was on practical aspects of magnetism

Magnetism

Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...

: improvements in the hanging of compasses at sea, for the discovery of the difference between iron and steel for magnetic purposes, and for the proper way of touching magnetic needles, and of piercing and cementing lodestone

Lodestone

A lodestone or loadstone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, that attract pieces of iron. Ancient people first discovered the property of magnetism in lodestone...

s. He corresponded with William Gilbert. A controversy arose between Barlow and Mark Ridley

Mark Ridley (physician)

Dr. Mark Ridley was an English physician, born in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, to Lancelot Ridley. He became physician to the English merchant in Russia, and then personal physician to the Tsar of Russia. While there, ca. 1594-1599, he compiled a Russian-English, English-Russian dictionary, which is...

, who published a reply to Barlow's Magnetical Advertisements, charging him with plagiarism, not only of Gilbert's work De Magnete (1600), but of his own book, Magnetical Bodies and Motions (1613). Barlow made a stinging reply. The work had in fact its origins in a manuscript he had prepared in 1609 for Sir Thomas Chaloner

Thomas Chaloner (naturalist)

Sir Thomas Chaloner was an English naturalist.-Life:He was the son of statesman and poet Sir Thomas Chaloner. He was tutor to Prince Henry, son of James I, and was also responsible for introducing alum manufacturing to England. He was Member of Parliament for St Mawes in 1586 and for Lostwithiel...

; Chaloner may have found him the position as chaplain to Prince Henry.