James Barry

Profile manager: Joelle Colville-Hanson [send private message]

Why this FreeSpace

Back in February of 2019 I learned the story of James Barry through a controversy surrounding a new novel that misgenders him as a feminist woman ahead of her time. I wanted to honor him and tell the story the way he would have wanted it told so I created a profile for him James Barry. It turned out that was a duplicate of Margaret Anne (Bulkley) Barry. It became clear to me that WikiTree is still dominated by Cisgender norms that insist genitalia defines gender. I was saddened and frustrated to learn that my intentions to honor him would not be realized.

My hope is someday WikiTree will be more "woke". In the meantime, this Free Space is here to tell his story the way I believe he would like told.

Biography

James Barry was born in 1789 in Cork, Ireland the second child of Jeremiah Bulkley and Mary Ann Barry. James was assigned a female and given the name Margaret Ann.

The Bulkleys ran a grocery business at Merchants Quay, Cork. In 1803 the family went bankrupt and Jeremiah went to debtors prison.

Mary Ann was a sister of James Barry, a successful Irish painter. When he died in 1806 the family inherited not only money but his circle of friends, General Francisco de Miranda, Dr Edward Fryer, who had become Barry's personal tutor, and Daniel Reardon, the family's solicitor.

It was this circle of friends who came up with the idea that Margaret should take on a male identity and enter medical school at Edinburgh.

In 1809 Margaret became James Barry and entered the Edinburgh School of Medicine. He qualified for an MD in 1812. He then studied at United Hospitals of Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London. In 1813 he successfully passed the examination for the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

James Barry, about 1813

James joined the army and was commissioned as a Hospital Assistant, posted in Chelsea and then the Royal Military Hospital in Plymouth, where he was promoted to Assistant Staff Surgeon. He was then briefly stationed in India before arriving in Cape Town South Africa in 1816 or 1817.

He eventually rose to the rank of Inspector General in charge of all military hospitals. He was often involved in scandals and disputes. His demand for better treatment of the poor and marginalized often put him at odds with those in power. He was known for being a skilled physician and his gentle and respectful treatment of his patients. He advocated for better treatment of soldiers and their families. He improved sanitary conditions in hospitals and recruited women nurses for women’s hospitals.

James lived his life as a man. He never allowed anyone in his room when dressing. He left instructions that upon his death there should be no examination of his body and that the his body should be "buried in bed sheets without further inspection”.

When he died in 1865 the woman employed to lay out his body observed he had a female body and made it public.

He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery under the name James Barry and full military rank

Sources

• Find A Grave: Memorial #2613 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 February 2019), memorial page for Dr James Barry (1795–26 Jul 1865), Find A Grave Memorial no. 2613, citing Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
• James Barry, Surgeon Wikipedia
• H.M.Du Perez, Dr James Barry (1789–1865): the Edinburgh years
• E.E. Ottoman, Dr James Barry and the Spector of Trans and Queer History
• H.M Du Perez: Dr James Barry: The early years revealed
• Directory of National Biography
• Dr James Miranda Barry
• James Barry A Woman Ahead of her Time (Artcle consistently misgenders James)