[1] In his youth, he was also a sportsman: as a cricketer he made two first-class appearances for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1925 and 1926, and as a rugby union player he won four Blues at Cambridge University from 1923 to 1926, captaining the side in his final year.
[1] In his family, and publicly as both a sportsman and a businessman, he was widely known as "Punch" Barlow – apparently for no better reason than that his elder sister was named Judy.
Noted as a critic and opponent of the National Party and its apartheid policies, Barlow was also an environmentalist and a sponsor of conservation initiatives.
Three species of bird are named after him, in recognition of his backing for expeditions of discovery: they include Barlow's lark.
[1] On his first-class debut Barlow took two wickets for Somerset in the first-innings of the match against Kent, bowling England Test cricketer Frank Woolley, who had already scored 215, and George Collins.