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James Barry (surgeon)
Encyclopedia
James Barry was a military surgeon
in the British Army
. After graduation from the University of Edinburgh
, Barry served in India
and Cape Town
, South Africa
. By the end of his career, he had risen to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. In his travels he not only improved conditions for wounded soldiers, but also the conditions of the native inhabitants. Among his accomplishments was the first caesarean section
in Africa by a British surgeon in which both the mother and child survived the operation.
Although Barry lived his adult life as a man, it is widely believed that he was female assigned at birth
and named Margaret Ann Bulkley and that he chose to live as a man so that he might be accepted as a university student and be able to pursue his chosen career as a surgeon. Thus Barry would be the first female assigned at birth Briton to become a qualified medical doctor. It has also been theorized that Barry was intersex
.
Evidence collected by Hercules Michael du Preez indicates that Barry was born Margaret Ann Bulkley in Ireland in 1789, the second child of Jeremiah and Mary-Ann Bulkley. The child's mother was the sister of James Barry
, a celebrated Irish artist and professor of painting at London's Royal Academy. However, family financial mismanagement left Mary-Ann and Margaret Bulkley without the support of either Jeremiah Bulkley (in prison) or their son John (married). Letters during this time of financial hardship refer to a conspiracy between Mrs. Bulkley and some of her brother's influential, liberal-minded friends to get the teenager – then still known as Bulkley's daughter Margaret – into medical school. A financial record from the family solicitor indicates that Mary-Ann and Margaret Bulkley travelled to Edinburgh by sea at the end of November 1809. A letter to the same solicitor, sent on 14 December, in which 'James Barry' asks for any letters for him to be forwarded to Mrs. Bulkley, mentions that '...it was very usefull [sic] for Mrs. Bulkley (my aunt) to have a Gentleman to take care of her on Board Ship and to have one in a strange country...', apparently indicating that the younger traveller had assumed this male identity upon embarking on the voyage. Although the letter was signed by Barry, the solicitor wrote on the back of the envelope 'Miss Bulkley, 14 December'.
as a 'literary and medical student'. He qualified with a Medical Doctorate in 1812, then moved back to London. There he signed up for the Autumn Course 1812/1813 as a pupil of the United Hospitals of Guy’s
and St Thomas'
. On 2 July 1813, Barry successfully took the examination for the Royal College of Surgeons of England
, subsequently qualifying as a Regimental Assistant.
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Barry was commissioned as a Hospital Assistant with the British Army on 6 July 1813, taking up posts in Chelsea and then the Royal Military Hospital in Plymouth
, where he was promoted to Assistant Staff Surgeon. He might have served in the Battle of Waterloo
(18 June 1815). After that he served in India
and then in South Africa
. He arrived in Cape Town
between 1815 and 1817.
In a couple of weeks he became the Medical Inspector for the colony. During his stay, he arranged for a better water system for Cape Town and performed one of the first known successful Caesarean section
s - the boy was christened James Barry Munnik. He also gained enemies by criticizing local handling of medical matters. He left Cape Town in 1828.
Barry's next postings included Mauritius
in 1828, Trinidad and Tobago
, and the island of Saint Helena
. In Saint Helena he got into trouble for leaving for England unannounced. Later he served in Malta
, Corfu
, the Crimea
, Jamaica
, and in 1831 Canada
.
By this time he had reached the rank of Inspector General
, H.M. Army Hospitals. However, during his next posting in Saint Helena, he got into trouble with the internal politics of the island, was arrested and sent home, and demoted to Staff Surgeon. His next posting was the West Indies in 1838.
In the West Indies Barry concentrated on medicine, management and improving the conditions of the troops. He was promoted to Principal Medical Officer. In 1845, Barry contracted yellow fever
and left for England for sick leave in October.
Barry was posted to Malta
on 2 November 1846. Within a month of his arrival he took a seat in the local church that was reserved for the clergy and was severely reprimanded. During his stay he had to deal with a threat of a cholera
epidemic, which eventually broke out in 1850. He left Malta for Corfu
in 1851 with the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals. He left Corfu in 1857 for Canada
as an Inspector-General of Hospitals. In that position, he fought for better food, sanitation and proper medical care for prisoners and lepers, as well as soldiers and their families.
on 25 July 1865. Sophia Bishop, the charwoman who took care of the body, discovered his female anatomy and revealed this information after the funeral. Afterward many people claimed to have "known it all along". The British Army sealed all records for 100 years. Historian Isobel Rae gained access to the army records in the 1950s, and concluded that Barry was a niece of James Barry the painter. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
under the name James Barry and his full rank. His manservant John subsequently returned to Jamaica
.
s when someone commented on his voice, features, or professionalism. He was punished many times for insubordination and discourteous behaviour but often received lenient sentences. During the Crimean War
(1854–1856), he got into an argument with Florence Nightingale
.
He appears to have had a good bedside manner and professional skill. He tried to improve sanitary conditions wherever he went and improve the conditions and diet of the common soldier, by introducing the pear. He reacted indignantly to unnecessary suffering. His insistence to better conditions of poor and commoners annoyed his peers. He was a vegetarian and teetotaler and reputedly recommended wine baths for some patients. His manservant (named John) and his dogs were his constant companions.
has begun work on a film based on Barry's life, entitled Heaven and Earth,. Set in 1825 in the Cape, the film tells of a secret love affair between Barry (played by Natascha McElhone
) and Lord Charles Somerset (James Purefoy
).
The character of Barry has been played by Anna Massey
in an episode of the BBC drama-documentary
A Skirt Through History.
His life is the subject of the historical novel James Miranda Barry (published in the USA as The Doctor) by Patricia Duncker
.
The Canadian aspect of Barry's career was dramatised in an episode of the series Heritage Television, produced by then-independent superchannel CHCH in Hamilton, and hosted by Canadian historian Pierre Berton
.
A 2004 play, Whistling Psyche by Sebastian Barry
, imagines a meeting between James Barry and Florence Nightingale
.
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. After graduation from 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...
, Barry served in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. By the end of his career, he had risen to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. In his travels he not only improved conditions for wounded soldiers, but also the conditions of the native inhabitants. Among his accomplishments was the first caesarean section
Caesarean section
A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
in Africa by a British surgeon in which both the mother and child survived the operation.
Although Barry lived his adult life as a man, it is widely believed that he was female assigned at birth
Sex assignment
Sex assignment refers to the assigning of the biological sex at the birth of a baby. In the majority of births, a relative, midwife, or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, sees ordinary male or female genitalia, and declares, "it's a girl" or "it's a boy" without the...
and named Margaret Ann Bulkley and that he chose to live as a man so that he might be accepted as a university student and be able to pursue his chosen career as a surgeon. Thus Barry would be the first female assigned at birth Briton to become a qualified medical doctor. It has also been theorized that Barry was intersex
Intersex
Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
.
Early life
Information about Barry's early life has been rife with myth and speculation; with no contemporary records known. The exact date of Barry's birth is uncertain; with sources putting the date at 1789, 1792, 1795,, or 1799.Evidence collected by Hercules Michael du Preez indicates that Barry was born Margaret Ann Bulkley in Ireland in 1789, the second child of Jeremiah and Mary-Ann Bulkley. The child's mother was the sister of James Barry
James Barry (painter)
James Barry , Irish painter, best remembered for his six part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts...
, a celebrated Irish artist and professor of painting at London's Royal Academy. However, family financial mismanagement left Mary-Ann and Margaret Bulkley without the support of either Jeremiah Bulkley (in prison) or their son John (married). Letters during this time of financial hardship refer to a conspiracy between Mrs. Bulkley and some of her brother's influential, liberal-minded friends to get the teenager – then still known as Bulkley's daughter Margaret – into medical school. A financial record from the family solicitor indicates that Mary-Ann and Margaret Bulkley travelled to Edinburgh by sea at the end of November 1809. A letter to the same solicitor, sent on 14 December, in which 'James Barry' asks for any letters for him to be forwarded to Mrs. Bulkley, mentions that '...it was very usefull [sic] for Mrs. Bulkley (my aunt) to have a Gentleman to take care of her on Board Ship and to have one in a strange country...', apparently indicating that the younger traveller had assumed this male identity upon embarking on the voyage. Although the letter was signed by Barry, the solicitor wrote on the back of the envelope 'Miss Bulkley, 14 December'.
Education
Following his 1809 arrival in Edinburgh, Barry began studies at the University of EdinburghUniversity 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...
as a 'literary and medical student'. He qualified with a Medical Doctorate in 1812, then moved back to London. There he signed up for the Autumn Course 1812/1813 as a pupil of the United Hospitals of Guy’s
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
and St Thomas'
St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
. On 2 July 1813, Barry successfully took the examination for the Royal College of Surgeons of England
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
, subsequently qualifying as a Regimental Assistant.
Career
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
, where he was promoted to Assistant Staff Surgeon. He might have served in the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
(18 June 1815). After that he served in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and then in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He arrived in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
between 1815 and 1817.
In a couple of weeks he became the Medical Inspector for the colony. During his stay, he arranged for a better water system for Cape Town and performed one of the first known successful Caesarean section
Caesarean section
A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
s - the boy was christened James Barry Munnik. He also gained enemies by criticizing local handling of medical matters. He left Cape Town in 1828.
Barry's next postings included Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in 1828, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, and the island of Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
. In Saint Helena he got into trouble for leaving for England unannounced. Later he served in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and in 1831 Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
By this time he had reached the rank of Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
, H.M. Army Hospitals. However, during his next posting in Saint Helena, he got into trouble with the internal politics of the island, was arrested and sent home, and demoted to Staff Surgeon. His next posting was the West Indies in 1838.
In the West Indies Barry concentrated on medicine, management and improving the conditions of the troops. He was promoted to Principal Medical Officer. In 1845, Barry contracted yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
and left for England for sick leave in October.
Barry was posted to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
on 2 November 1846. Within a month of his arrival he took a seat in the local church that was reserved for the clergy and was severely reprimanded. During his stay he had to deal with a threat of a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic, which eventually broke out in 1850. He left Malta for Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in 1851 with the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals. He left Corfu in 1857 for Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as an Inspector-General of Hospitals. In that position, he fought for better food, sanitation and proper medical care for prisoners and lepers, as well as soldiers and their families.
End of life
James Barry retired in 1864 — reputedly against his wishes — and returned to England. He died from dysenteryDysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
on 25 July 1865. Sophia Bishop, the charwoman who took care of the body, discovered his female anatomy and revealed this information after the funeral. Afterward many people claimed to have "known it all along". The British Army sealed all records for 100 years. Historian Isobel Rae gained access to the army records in the 1950s, and concluded that Barry was a niece of James Barry the painter. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
under the name James Barry and his full rank. His manservant John subsequently returned to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Character
Barry was not always a pleasant fellow to be around. He could be tactless, impatient, argumentative and opinionated. He reputedly fought a couple of duelDuel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
s when someone commented on his voice, features, or professionalism. He was punished many times for insubordination and discourteous behaviour but often received lenient sentences. During the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1854–1856), he got into an argument with Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
.
He appears to have had a good bedside manner and professional skill. He tried to improve sanitary conditions wherever he went and improve the conditions and diet of the common soldier, by introducing the pear. He reacted indignantly to unnecessary suffering. His insistence to better conditions of poor and commoners annoyed his peers. He was a vegetarian and teetotaler and reputedly recommended wine baths for some patients. His manservant (named John) and his dogs were his constant companions.
In popular culture
Dutch filmmaker Marleen GorrisMarleen Gorris
Marleen Gorris is a writer-director from the Netherlands. Gorris is known as an outspoken feminist and supporter of gay and lesbian issues which is reflected in much of her work....
has begun work on a film based on Barry's life, entitled Heaven and Earth,. Set in 1825 in the Cape, the film tells of a secret love affair between Barry (played by Natascha McElhone
Natascha McElhone
Natascha McElhone is an English actress of stage, screen and television, best known for her roles in Ronin, The Truman Show and Solaris. McElhone also plays a leading role in the Showtime series Californication....
) and Lord Charles Somerset (James Purefoy
James Purefoy
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.-Early life and work:...
).
The character of Barry has been played by Anna Massey
Anna Massey
Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
in an episode of the BBC drama-documentary
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
A Skirt Through History.
His life is the subject of the historical novel James Miranda Barry (published in the USA as The Doctor) by Patricia Duncker
Patricia Duncker
Patricia Duncker is a British novelist and academic.-Academic career:Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Duncker attended Bedales school in England and, after a period spent working in Germany, read English at Newnham College, Cambridge...
.
The Canadian aspect of Barry's career was dramatised in an episode of the series Heritage Television, produced by then-independent superchannel CHCH in Hamilton, and hosted by Canadian historian Pierre Berton
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
.
A 2004 play, Whistling Psyche by Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry
Sebastian Barry is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. He has been shortlisted twice for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and has won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year....
, imagines a meeting between James Barry and Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
.
Further reading
- Beukes, Lauren: Maverick:Extraordinary Women From South Africa's Past, ISBN 0-177-00705-0
- Brandon, Sydney: ‘Barry, James (c.1799–1865)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 4 Aug 2008; ODNB in notes.
- Duncker, Patricia: James Miranda Barry (historical fiction), ISBN 0-330-37169-X
- Duncker, Patricia: The Doctor, ISBN 0-006-00904-1
- Holmes, Rachel: Scanty Particulars: The Scandalous Life and Astonishing Secret of James Barry, Queen Victoria's Most Eminent Military Doctor ISBN 0-375-5055-6
- Kronenfeld, Anne and Ivan: The Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry (historical fiction) ISBN 3-978-15943109
- Racster, Olga: Dr. James Barry: Her secret story
- Rae, Isobel: The Strange Story of Dr. James Barry: Army Surgeon, Inspector-General of Hospitals, Discovered on Death to be a Woman
- Robb, Colin Johnston: The Woman Who Won Fame in the British Army as a Man (article published in The Northern Whig and Belfast Post, Friday, November 16, 1846)
- Rose, June: The Perfect Gentleman ISBN 0-00912684-0
- Town, Florida Ann: With a Silent Companion (historical fiction for ages 12–16), ISBN 0-88995-211
External links
- The Mysterious Doctor James Barry by Van Hunks
- Dr. Barry's Doctoral Thesis (in Latin and English)
- Dr. Barry's Burial Site
- The Cape Doctor in the Nineteenth Century: A Social History - by Helen Sweet (December 2005) in the journal The Social History of Medicine, (citation: Soc Hist Med. 2005; 18: 504-506)
- Home Taught for Abroad: The Training of the Cape Doctor, 1807-1910 by Howard Phillips, in the Wellcome Series in the History of Medicine
- Copley, Hamish. "Dr. James Miranda Barry." The Drummer's Revenge: LGBT history and politics in Canada. December 2, 2007.