Barrett, William Alexander

William Alexander Barrett was born in London in 1834 and died in 1891.  Starting as a choirboy, he went on to forge a career as choirmaster, solo singer, writer and critic.  In 1889 he started to seek out folksongs.  In his book “English Folksongs”, he published songs from many localities, including Gloucestershire, although possibly did not collect the material himself.  A fuller account of his life may be found here.