Born in Burma, he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and studied at New College, Oxford, where he befriended Oscar Wilde, who became an intimate companion.
[1] Having served as an organizer for the Social Democratic Federation and as a contributor to William Morris' socialist journal Commonweal, he demonstrated in Trafalgar Square on Bloody Sunday.
His work, which was mostly devoid of socialist themes, was much admired by contemporary authors such as John Davidson and Henry Stephens Salt.
Possessing both fragile mental health and intense emotions, Barlas was arrested on the morning of New Year's Eve, 1891 after walking to Westminster Bridge and firing a revolver three times at the House of Commons, apparently to show his contempt for Parliament.
Although he was bailed out by Wilde, Barlas was eventually admitted to Gartnavel Asylum, Glasgow, where he spent much of his later life in severe mental illness.