Sir James William Barrett, (27 February 1862 – 6 April 1945) was an Australian ophthalmologist and academic administrator.
Born in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, he was educated at the University of Melbourne and King's College London.‘BARRETT, Lt-Col Sir James William’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007
During World War I he organised a successful open-air hospital in the grounds of Luna Park, Cairo, for military casualties from the Gallipoli landings.The Australian Army Medical Corps in Egypt; an illustrated and detailed account of the early organisation and work of the Australian medical units in Egypt in 1914-1915 by Barrett, James William; Deane, P. E. London: H.K. Lewis (1918).
He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1931 to 1934, and then as Chancellor from 1935 to 1939. He was President of the British Medical Association from 1935 to 1936, and the inaugural president of the Victorian Town Planning and Parks Association, now the Town and Country Planning Association. He was a notable supporter of Jewish refugee migration to Australia by persons fleeing Nazism.Rubinstein, Hilary L., 'Sir James Barrett (1862–1945): Australian philosemite', Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 12:1, Nov 1993, pp.91–100.
Bibliography The Australian medical corps in Egypt (1918) The twin ideals: An educated Commonwealth (1918) The war work of the Y.M.C.A. In Egypt (1919) A vision of the possible (1919) The diary of an Australian soldier (1921) Save Australia (1925)
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