John Wintour Baldwin Barns
British Egyptologist and papyrologist; he was born in Bristol, 12 May 1912, son of William Henry Barns and Helen Maria Baldwin; he was educated at the University of Bristol, BA, 1932 and at Oxford, BA, 1937; MA, 1942; DPhil, 1947; there he studied under C. H. Roberts and B. Gunn; he served as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park during World War II; he was Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology, University College, Oxford 1945-53, Lecturer in Papyrology, Oxford 1953-65; Professor of Egyptology, Oxford 1965-74; he was ordained in 1956; although he published comparatively little in the field of Coptic studies, his strength lay in his teaching of the language and literature; apart from his papyrological studies and articles, his works include The Ashmolean Ostracon of Sinuhe,1952; Five Ramesseum Papyri, 1956; Four Martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic Codices: Greek and Coptic Papryi from the cartonnage of the covers, 1981 with G. M. Browne and J. C. Skelton; he died in Oxford, 23 Jan. 1974.
