ABSTRACT
John Barrow was born in a rustic cottage on the seaside near the Ulverston. He excelled in mathematics and learned navigation at an early age. He also took interest in the experiments Benjamin Franklin was making with kites and electricity, and experimented himself with these things in his own village. After he returned from the South Africa, Barrow was appointed Second Secretary of the Admiralty by Lord Melville. In South Africa, Lord Macartney sent Barrow on a mission to try to reconcile the Kaffirs and the Boers, and to chart an accurate topography of the colony since there was not a yet a map of it. Barrow was to report on timber and other resources that might be of use to the Royal Navy. Barrow is considered to have drawn the first complete map of the Cape Colony, giving an unparalleled historical account and description.
