Alfred Barnard was born in 1835. He was appointed as secretary of Harpers Weekly Gazette around 1885 and went on to have a successful career as a historian, journalist and author. Barnard died in 1918 at the age of 81 in Croydon, south London, having secured an honoured place in whisky history. His Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom is still considered one the most important books on the subject ever written.