Sidney Barton

Sir Sidney Barton (26 November 1876 – 20 January 1946) was a British barrister and diplomat, serving as consul-general in Shanghai and as minister to Ethiopia. Early life Sidney Barton was born in Exeter, Devonshire, England on 26 November 1876, the fourth son of Captain James Barton and Mary Barbara Barclay. The Bartons were a distinguished Anglo-Irish family that came to Ireland from Lancashire in 1599 with the Earl of Essex, gaining lands in County Fermanagh. Barton was descended through his mother from the Barclay baronets, a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia, his grandfather being the 10th Baronet, Sir David William Barclay of Pierston. Sir Colville Barclay, a fellow diplomat and third son of the twelfth Baronet, was a cousin. Barton was educated at St Paul's School, London.