Bartley was born at
Stoke Newington, the son of Robert Bartley and his wife Julia Anne Lucas. He was educated at
Clapton, London and
University College School. He entered public service and worked for twenty years at the
Science and Art Department, becoming Assistant Director. He was interested in poverty and social issues and published works on education and on building self-reliance He supported technical education, and was treasurer of the
Society of Arts. He established a
Penny Bank, which became the National Penny Bank. He was a
J.P. for
Middlesex and Westminster. He was elected as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Islington North at the
1885 general election and held the seat until his defeat in
1906. He announced that he would stand again when a suitable opportunity arose, and contested the
Kingston upon Hull West by-election in November 1907. The intervention for the first time of a
Labour Party candidate cut the Liberal majority, but not by enough for Bartley to win the seat, and after his defeat in Hull he did not stand for Parliament again. He was a member of the Traffic Commission and travelled extensively. He was in South Africa when the
Second Boer War broke out in 1899. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath (KCB) in the November
1902 Birthday Honours list, and was invested with the insignia by King
Edward VII at
Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902. ==Family==