Jim Barnes

Sydney Rowing Club (NSW)

Jim Barnes had a short but interesting rowing career and an even more interesting life.

We cannot find out much of his short rowing career other than he raced in the Sydney Rowing Club eight which raced at the centenary Henley Royal Regatta in 1939. The crew was eliminated in the semi-final by the Canadian Argonaut crew.

The Sydney crew was in fact a crew from several Sydney clubs who could afford a subscription of 50 pounds to help fund the trip. One of the criticisms of this crew was that it included too many inexperienced rowers, with crew member Brin Jay just out of school. James Barnes raced in the 1936 Shore crew which finished third. He would have only reached junior level in 1939 at Sydney Rowing Club. His younger brother William G Barnes won the Head of the River in 1938 for Shore.

The reason for his short rowing career is understandable given the commencement of WWII in 1939, Jim enlisting and then moving to farming and marrying in 1946.

But back to Jim's interesting life. The following is drawn from a blog from veterinarian W P 'Bill' Howey's blog when writing about Jim's veterinarian son Jamie Barnes. The reference is below.

Jim's wife Anna was a principal dancer with the legendary Ballet Russes. Bill Howey continues.

She had come under the eye of the famous troupe in Paris in the late 1920s where she had begun lessons aged 11.

Anna’s family had been members of Russian aristocracy and extremely wealthy. They were left penniless after fleeing Moscow and settling in Paris during the 1917 revolution. Anna was only able to attend dance lessons through the generosity of an old friend who offered to teach her for free.

The talents of the beautiful young Russian were soon evident and Anna was invited to join the troupe at 15. In the ensuing years, she performed in many countries from Cuba to England, living for months on end out of a suitcase.

In 1938 and 1939, Anna toured Australia with the Ballet Russes and with her fellow ballerinas, wowed the culturally-derived audiences. It was on her return trip to England following the 1938 tour that she met a dashing young rower, Jim Barnes. Jim was part of the Australian rowing team travelling to Henley for an international competition and the pair fell in love during the five week trip.

Jim proposed to Anna while still in England but she said no because of the imminent onset of war. Jim enlisted and fought in the South Pacific, while Anna continued to tour with the ballet troupe. She was in Rio six years later when she received a telegram from Jim, who was in the jungles of Bouganville, again asking her to marry him. This time she said yes and the pair were reunited in Sydney in 1946.

“I don’t know if Mum realised what she was getting herself into,” Jamie said. “She had had this wonderful life with the ballet and then ended up as a farmer’s wife on a sheep property at Boorowa. I don’t think she ever regretted the choice she made and eventually her mother came out and lived with them until she passed away in her 80’s.”

Jamie said it was difficult for his mother to gain entry to Australia and they had to “pull some strings” for her to be admitted. He said his parents remained on the property at Boorowa, not far from Canberra, for many years before retiring to Sydney where his father passed away six years ago.

His mother ran ballet classes in Boorowa for a time and is still involved in consulting with the Australian Ballet.

And later quoting Jim's son Jamie on his father:

“Dad was wrapped up in animals, particularly horses. He was big in the equestrian world and competed as a show jumper for Australia in the 1950s. He managed the Australian Team for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

“He had an owner/trainers licence for a while and I used to ride track work on his horses when I was home from boarding school. When I was finishing school, I wasn’t at all sure what I wanted to do and Dad suggested I become a vet."

Extracted by Andrew Guerin with thanks to David Clark who provided the interesting references which initiated this profile.
November 2026

Sources:

Sydney Rows by Alan L May page 114
https://sconevetdynasty.com.au/from-russia-with-love/ a blog by W P 'Bill' Howey
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/dance/ballets-russes-star-dies-at-96-20130821-2sair.html

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
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