Horace Barks

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Horace Barks, OBE (1895-1983) was a British Labour politician. He was Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2.[http://www.thepotteries.org/people/barks_hor.htm People of Stoke-on-Trent]

{{Infobox person

| name = Horace Barks

| image =

| image_size = 100px

| known_for = Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent
Esperanto

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| birth_date = 1895

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|1895}}

| birth_place = Ipstones, Staffordshire

}}

Barks was born in Ipstones in the Staffordshire countryside and came from a working-class background. His experiences in World War I left him with pacifist beliefs and experience of railway operations. After the war he became a train guard and, in 1921, a member of the Labour Party, the dominant party in Stoke-on-Trent during the twentieth century. He was elected a councillor in 1930 and made an Alderman in 1948. He served as Mayor for 1951–52.{{cite web| url =http://www.thepotteries.org/federation/061_barks.htm|title= People who made the Potteries - Horace Barks|accessdate= 31 July 2014}}

Barks' cultural interests included Esperanto and the writer Arnold Bennett. Barks and his son Guy were active in the Arnold Bennett Society, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent. The reference library in the city is named after Barks.