George Barry was a Scottish minister, the author of a History of the Orkney Islands.

Life

Barry was a native of Berwickshire

Berwickshire

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

. He studied at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

. After receiving a license as a preacher from the Edinburgh presbytery of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

, he continued to act as tutor in a gentleman's family until in 1782 he obtained a presentation to the second charge of Kirkwall

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...

. The dislike of a portion of the congregation to his preaching resulted before long in the formation of a Secession

First Secession

The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church....

 congregation in the parish. In 1793 he was translated to Shapinsay

Shapinsay

Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland...

. He received in 1804 the degree of D.D. from the university of Edinburgh.

Works

Shortly before his death at Shapinsay on 11 May 1805 he published a History of the Orkney Islands, including a view of the ancient and modern inhabitants, their monuments of antiquity, their natural history, the present state of their agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and the means of their improvement. A second edition, with additions and improvements by the Rev. James Headrick, appeared in 1808. Barry's History contains his own research, but depends also on the unpublished manuscripts of George Low.