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Name: BARLOW, Arthur Ruffell (Rev.)

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Nee: nephew of Dr. Clement Ruffell Scott

Birth Date: 5.12.1886 Tunbridge Wells

Death Date: 10.11.1955 Edinburgh, memorial erected at Church of the Torch, Kikuyu

First Date: 1901

Last Date: 1955

Profession: A member of the Church of Scotland Mission at Kikuyu. He also made two ascents up Mt Kenya with Dr Arthur and in 1924 he went alone. A photographer of great skill he obtained a valuable collection of photographs during these climbs.

Area: Kikuyu, Tumutumu, 1930 Mahiga, Nyeri

Married: Agnes Isobel Mary 'Nan' Christie b. 1 Aug 1893 Lunnasting, Orkney, d. 22 Jan 1987

Author: Studies in Kikuyu Grammar

Book Reference: Gillett, SE, Leys, Scotland, Tignor, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Hut, Playne, Drumkey, Red 22, Women in Kenya, Barnes, EAHB 1906, Gazette, Nicholls, Chogoria, EAHB 1907, Web, Beck, Red Book 1912, Red 19

War Service: E Af units, Military Labour Corps

General Information:

Gazette 6 Dec 1938 Aberdare Voters List
SE - A.R. Barlow - CSM Kikuyu - May 1909
In 1909 he was responsible for selecting the site for, and beginning the construction of, the temporary buildings for the Church of Scotland Mission at Tumutumu. It was at that time a dense jungle and the haunt of scores of hyenas, but gradually, with the help of local labour, the Mission station came into being.
Drumkey 1909 - Church of Scotland Mission
Red 22 - Member Education Board, Kenya
Women in Kenya - Mr Barlow was also responsible for translating the Gospel of St. Mark into Kikuyu and producing the Kikuyu New Testament which was completed in time for the ordination in March 1926 at Kikuyu and Tumutumu of the first 8 ministers of what was then called the 'Church of the Kikuyu'.
Gazette - 7/4/15 - Liable for Jury service, Dagoretti - A.R. Barlow
Nicholls - So scandalised was the government about the behaviour of A. Ruffelle Barlow in Kikuyuland in 1905 that they deported him as potentially dangerous to the integrity of the European population. His crime was to drink beer with Africans, eat their food, dance with them and become fluent in the Kikuyu language. This sort of racial mixing led to his arrest, but he was allowed back into the EAP after a year provided he promised to avoid repeating his earlier behaviour. He became a proficient linguist, publishing in 1914 'Tentative Studies in Kikuyu Grammar and Idiom'.
Church of the Torch, Kikuyu cemetery - "erected by his wife in loving memory of Arthur Ruffell [sic] Barlow, missionary, philologist and friend of the Kikuyu people, born 5/12/1886, died 10/11/1955, agitungatira mwathani enyihitie, served the Lord humbly
Web - Arthur Ruffell Barlow, Church of Scotland missionary and linguist, was born in Edinburgh in 1888. He was the nephew of David Clement Ruffell Scott, a Church of Scotland missionary in Malawi and Kenya. In 1903 at the age of seventeen Barlow joined his uncle at Scott's mission at Kikuyu, British East Africa (Kenya). He assisted with the mission's work in an unofficial capacity until 1908 when he was formally employed by the Church of Scotland. His interest in and grasp of the Kikuyu language and dialects meant he was often employed as a translator and his intimate knowledge of the Kikuyu people made him a trusted counsellor. He was a good friend of Jomo Kenyatta when both were young. In 1909 he became the first resident missionary at Tumutumu and acted, at various times, as superintendent at both Kikuyu and Tumutumu. He was one of the founders of the Kenya Missionary Council and acted as its secretary for a number of years as well as playing a prominent role in the debate on church and mission union in Kenya. Barlow's work with the Kikuyu language continued, he prepared a grammar which became a standard and initiated a bible translation. His knowledge of the language and culture and interest in questions such as land reform and the rights of Africans meant that he was also often consulted on African matters by government. After he retired on 30 June 1941 he continued his linguistic and translation studies, at first working for two years under an arrangement with the Church of Scotland. He published Studies in Kikuyu Grammar and Idiom in 1951 which followed an earlier 'tentative' work in 1946. He returned to Kenya from Scotland during the Mau Mau troubles and in 1953 took the role of Officer in Charge of the Translation Bureau of the African Information Services. He left Kenya for the final time in 1959. Barlow devoted a large amount of time in his later years to the production of a Kikuyu-English dictionary on which he worked with Canon Henry Leakey and Leonard Beecher, both of the Church Missionary Society. The dictionary was finally published in 1964 and Barlow died in 1965.
Red Book 1912 - A.R. Barlow - Nyeri
Gazette - 29/10/1919 - Register of Voters - Kikuyu - Arthur Ruffell Barlow, Lay Missionary, Church of Scotland Mission, Kikuyu and Jess Anne Barlow, Married, Church of Scotland Mission, Kikuyu
Red Book 1919 - A R Barlow - Church of Scotland Mission, Kikuyu
Hut - translated Bible > Kikuyu
 

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