Barraclough was ed­u­cat­ed in Eng­land, and stu­died or­gan and pi­a­no from the age of five. He worked for a while as a claims ad­just­er for the Car and Gen­er­al In­sur­ance Com­pa­ny. From 1911-1913, he was sec­re­ta­ry to Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment George Scott Ro­bert­son. He then joined the Chap­man-Al­ex­an­der ev­an­gel­is­tic team as a pi­an­ist, and tra­veled with them to Amer­i­ca and re­mained there. He fought in World War I, ris­ing to the rank of ser­geant ma­jor, then be­came sec­re­ta­ry, and lat­er an ad­min­is­tra­tor, of the Gen­er­al As­sem­bly of the Pres­by­ter­i­an Church (1919-1961). He wrote words for 20 hymns and tunes to 120.

• Emurian, pp. 70-2
• Hustad, p. 202

1. Ivory Pal­ac­es