Biography:
1. George Barnes was appointed to the Establishment on the 19th January 1792 and Overseer of the Works at the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey on the 31st July 1809. In 1812, he was paid 7/-d per day and provided with a house, which was in Powder Mill Lane (List of Officers and Others on the Ordnance dated September 1812 - WO54/512)
2. WO54/516 dated the 19th February 1816, confirmed he was still Overseer of Works and still paid 7/-d per day. He was then aged 52, a widower with 4 married and 2 unmarried children. He was still provided with an apartment, but now received a coal and candle allowance of £8 per annum. He was trained as a Bricklayer and Builder. He was first employed by the Board as a Bricklayer on the 3rd October 1786, becoming a Master Bricklayer on the 10th January 1791.
3. WO54/520 dated the 28th February 1817 recorded that Mr. Barnes was now 53, and was still a widower with 4 married and 2 unmarried children. It confirmed that he earned 7/-d per day and was in receipt of an apartment with a coal and candle allowance as before.
4. WO54/514 dated the 25th June 1818 and WO54/528 dated the 19th May, 1919 gave his age as 55, with all other details remaining the same.
5. List of Employees dated the 13th September 1820 ( WO54/532) confirmed that Barnes was still employed as the Overseer of Works. He was 57 and still living in Waltham Abbey in an apartment, with an allowance of £8 for coal and candle. However, this Return shows that he had remarried and still had 6 children; it also recorded that he earned 10/d per day.
6. WO54/536 dated the 2nd April 1821 stated that he was George (1) was 58, and that his Terms of Employment, etc. remained unchanged.
7. WO54/536 dated the 31st December 1821 is a repeat of the previous Return dated the 2nd April 1821; however, at that date he had 7children. A note at the bottom of the document concerned reads "The appointment of Overseer (George Barnes) is abolished from this day 31st December 1821."
8. A statement "of monies to which the public were entitled to receive credit between the 1st January and the 31st December, 1821, shewing the amounts received by the storekeeper" dated the 4th April 1821 (Supply 5/232) recorded that George Barnes, Overseer of the Works, was living rent-free in a Board of Ordnance house, tenement No. 8, from the 29th September 1809. This house was possibly in the Engineers' yard. The same information was repeated in Supply 5/232 dated the 16th February 1822 for the year 1821.
