William Barnes Rhodes (1772–1826) was an English author, best known for his burlesque opera, Bombastes Furioso.
He worked as a writer in an attorney's office, before gaining a position as a clerk in the Bank of England around 1799.
On 1 November 1826 he died at his home near Bedford Square, London, being survived by his wife, who gave birth to a daughter after his death.
It was produced anonymously at the Haymarket Theatre on 7 August 1810, with John Liston in the title role and Charles Mathews as the King of Utopia and was first printed in 1813, in Dublin, but was not published under Rhodes's name until 1822.
Rhodes was also a collector of dramatic literature and made large purchases when the Duke of Roxburghe's library was auctioned in June 1812.