Frederick Whitfield Barrett
{{Short description|British polo player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
File:Major F. W. Barrett GB Polo team 1921 (cropped).jpg
{{MedalTop}}
{{MedalSport | Men's Polo}}
{{MedalGold| 1920 Antwerp|polo}}
{{MedalBronze| 1924 Paris|polo}}
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Major Frederick Whitfield Barrett (20 June 1875 – 7 November 1949) was an international polo player. He trained race horses for three British Monarchs George V, Edward VIII and George VI.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/17959 |title=Frederick Whitfield Barrett |work=Olympedia |access-date=27 August 2021}}
Biography
He was born on 20 June 1875 at the Barrett family home in Ireland, Silver Spring House in Lota Beg townland in County Cork.{{cite web
| url = https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/cert_amends/cert_1875/2130928a.pdf
| title = Birth certificate
| website = Irish Genealogy
| publisher = Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
| access-date = 15 April 2019}} The Barrett family also resided at Hastings House in Barbados.{{cite web
| url = https://historicgraves.com/st-finnbarr-s-cemetery/co-sfbr-0044/grave
| title = Family Vault
| website = Historicgraves
| date = 28 March 2012
| access-date = 16 April 2019
| quote = The Family Vault of William Thomas and Sarah Barrett, of Silverspring, Cork: and of Hastings House, Barbadoes.}}
Barrett was in the 15th Hussars and had been a successful steeplechase rider. He began polo when his regiment went to India in 1902.
He competed on the England polo team in the 1914 and 1921 International Polo Cup.{{cite web|url=http://www.westchestercup.org/archives.htm |title=2009 Westchester Cup International High Goal Polo |publisher=Westchestercup.org |accessdate=2012-02-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302201426/http://www.westchestercup.org/archives.htm |archivedate=2 March 2012}} The English team were victorious in 1914 ending a series of losses.{{cite web|author=E.G.B. Fitzhamon Special Correspondent to The London Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50711FF3F5E13738DDDAE0994DE405B848DF1D3&scp=3&sq=Barrett%20polo%20westchester&st=cse |title=British View of Their Triumph - Cup Going Away From Long Island for a Pretty Long Spell, The London Times's Special Correspondent Thinks.|work=The New York Times|date=1914-06-17 |accessdate=2012-02-14}}
He won the Roehampton Trophy for polo in 1919.
Barrett competed for Great Britain in polo at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. The British Polo team defeated Spain in the final to win the gold medal. He also competed in polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris where he received the bronze medal.
On leaving the Army Barrett trained race horses. He trained Annandale, owned by Lady Glenapp, to finish third in the 1931 Grand National and to win the Scottish Grand National at Bogside the following month.{{cite news
| title = Scottish "National": Annandale's Easy Win: Tamasha Breaks Down
| newspaper = The Scotsman
| location = Edinburgh
| pages = 5
| language = English
| date = 20 April 1931
| url = https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000540/19310420/242/0005?browse=true
| access-date = 16 April 2019}}
He died on 7 November 1949.
Private life
Barrett was married to Honorable Isobel Caroline, Lord Kensington's daughter. The two of them lived at Wroughton Hall, Wiltshire.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/frederick-barrett-1.html |title=Frederick Barrett Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at |publisher=Sports-reference.com |accessdate=2012-02-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801010149/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/frederick-barrett-1.html |archivedate=1 August 2012}}
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Frederick Whitfield}}
Category:British racehorse trainers
Category:English Olympic competitors
Category:Polo players at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic polo players for Great Britain
Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
Category:Polo players at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
Category:International Polo Cup
Category:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics