Geoffrey Barnes

Geoffrey Thomas Barnes, CBE, JP (18 August 1932 - 11 February 2010) was a British government official, civil servant, military serviceman and author. Barnes held a number of posts in the government of Sarawak and later in the government of Hong Kong, his first major post being the Deputy Secretary for Security, a department for which he would later serve as Secretary in the late 1980s. Barnes also served as Deputy Secretary for Health and Welfare and as the 4th Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Early life Barnes was born on the 18th of August 1932 in Malacca, Malaya to parents Thomas Arthur Barnes and Ethel Maud Walker. He attended Dover College in Southeast England, and went on to study Anthropology at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he took part in an expedition to Lake Tana, Ethiopia, an account of which was published by Collins in 1955. Career Early career Barnes served as a government official in the British colonial administration of Sarawak from 1956 to 1963, and remained in Sarawak's government throughout their transition to independence until 1968. In 1970, Barnes joined the government of Hong Kong, where he served as the Assistant Defence Secretary until 1972. Following this, Barnes held the posts of Police Civil Secretary until 1976 and then Assistant Director for the Commerce and Industry Department until 1977.