The career of Dr James Barry

Enquiry question

Investigate the sources

1. Source 1: Extract from Dr James Barry’s personal army service record

   1. 

      Return of the Services                                                                 

      And [Added comment: ‘See Statements of Services 1, 614’]

      Professional Education 

      James Barry M.D. Assistant Staff Surgeon [Added comment: ‘a woman’]

      From 5th July 1813 to 7th April 1824

      I commenced the Study of my Profession at the University of Edinburgh as Literary & Medical Student in the year 1810

      The following are the classes I attended before and since my entry into the Service 

      Practice of Physic

      Theory of Medicine: Two courses & clinical lectures 3- 6 months 1811 &1812

      Chemistry 18 courses 1810, 1811, 1812

      Pharmacy 3 courses of Clinical lectures 

      Botany 

      Anatomy 3 courses & Morbid Anatomy 2 courses

      Military Surgery

      Midwifery

      Dissections 3 courses 1810, 11, 12

      Clinical surgical lectures

      Surgery course

      Barclay & Murray’s Private lectures, Dr Duncan Just. Medical Jurisprudence

      Literary classes in Greek, Natural & Moral Philosophy

      Private pupil to Mr Fyfe

      Likewise attended the undermentioned Hospitals a regular Pupil, during the Period…

      Guys & St Thomas in London for 6 months in the year

      Royal Infirmary, Dispensary of Lying in Hospital in Edinburgh for 12 months in the year 1811 as perpetual pupil

      I received a Diploma in 1812 as Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh

      and the following is a correct detail of my services, both upon Full and upon Half Pay, with the several Stations.

   Investigate the source

   • When did Dr James Barry start his studies at Edinburgh University?
   • When did he finish?
   • What subjects did he study at Edinburgh University?
   • Why do you think he studied ‘Botany’ and ‘Medical jurisprudence’? Check the meaning of these terms if necessary.
   • What practical training in medicine did James Barry do as part of his studies? Why was this important?
   • Why did he study ‘Greek and natural & moral philosophy’ do you think?
   • How do you explain the additional comments written on this document by others?
   • Can you suggest any other sources which could be used concerning James Barry’s medical training?
   • How different is James Barry’s training to that of a doctor in the 18th century or today, according to your own knowledge or research?

2. Source 2: Rebellion of enslaved people in Jamaica

   This is an extract from a document entitled ‘Memorandum of the Services of Dr James Barry Inspector General of Hospitals’. This was written by Dr Barry at the end of his career after serving in Canada when he returned to London in 1859, although the date stamp on the document is not clear.

   In this extract Dr James Barry refers to an important rebellion of enslaved people on the island of Jamaica 1831–32.

   1. 

      Memorandum of the Services of Dr James Barry Inspector General of Hospitals.

      I entered the Army as a medical officer under the age of fourteen years and served first at the Cape of Good Hope about thirteen years attached to the personal Staff of the late General Lord Charles Somerset on whose resignation, I was promoted to the rank of Staff Surgeon and sent to the Mauritius. I served there about eighteen months and was recalled in consequence of the serious illness of Lord Charles Somerset upon whose death I proceeded to Jamaica and served under Sir Willoughby Cotton during the Rebellion and the burning of the Plantations by the Negroes. I was in medical charge of the Troops employed on that service the Inspector General remaining at Head Quarters….

   Investigate the source

   • What does this statement indicate about James Barry’s age when he started his degree in medicine at Edinburgh University in Source 1?
   • What does this extract suggest about his qualities and skills as a doctor?
   • Find out about the uprising by the enslaved in Jamaica in 1831–2 mentioned by Dr James Barry and the role of its leader Samuel Sharpe and Sir Willoughby Cotton.
   • What are the advantages and disadvantages of using personal testimony as historical evidence?

3. Source 3: The Crimean War

   This is a second extract from the ‘Memorandum of the Services of Dr James Barry Inspector General of Hospitals’.

   In this extract Dr Barry makes refers to the Crimean War (1854–56) fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia. While serving during the Crimean War, Dr James Barry was supposed to have argued with Florence Nightingale.

   1. 

      I was shortly after promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General in the Ionian Islands. During the period of my service there, war was declared against Russia and at my suggestion to Lord Raglan and Inspector General Sir J. Hall, 500 of the sick and wounded from the Crimea were sent and placed under my charge at Corfu, upward of 400 of them returned fit for active service having been restored to health in an unusually short period and I myself proceeded on leave to the Crimea where I remained about three months with the 4th Division before Sebastopol and made myself useful as opportunities offered which can be testified by Sir John Hall and the Colonel and officers…

   Investigate the source

   • Find out about the Crimean war and Lord Raglan, the commander of British troops mentioned by Dr Barry in this extract.
   • What does this extract imply about Dr Barry’s work and service during the Crimean War?

4. Source 4: A disagreement with church officials

   This letter from Dr James Barry to the army General Commanding Officer, 25th January 1859, refers to a disagreement between Dr Barry and two church officials for the Church of St John’s in Montreal, Canada.

   Barry was promoted to the highest rank in the army as Inspector General of Hospitals in the British colony of Canada in 1857.

   The disagreement concerned the timing of the church Service held for the army. The churchmen complained to the Bishop of Montreal that Dr Barry had ‘with such violence of manner and language, accused the Archdeacon and me [the Dean] of refusing to allow the military service to be changed from 2pm to 9am, stating that we were callous to the spiritual welfare of her Majesty’s soldiers, with much more to the same effect, and finishing with a threat to publish us in the London Times newspaper’.

   1. 

      Montreal 25th January 1857

      Sir,

      Having perused the letters from the Bishop and Dean of Montreal placed in my hands by you on the subject of a conversation I had with the later gentlemen relative to the attendance of the troops at Divine Service.

      They [to] state [to] the Lieutenant General Commanding that having been changed by a message I had previously received from the Dean, Mr Byers the Military Chaplain, I was both warm and excited in urging that the hours for the attendance of the troops should on sanitary grounds be changed and if in so doing I used the words attributed to me by the Dean of Montreal, I beg to withdraw them, and to express my great regret that I should have been led to use such expressions to him.

      I have the honour to be, your obedient

      (Signed) James Barry M.D.

      Inspector General

   Investigate the source

   • What does the source imply about Dr James Barry’s personality and character?
   • What does the letter suggest about his attitude towards the soldiers he was responsible for?
   • Can you explain why he might want to change the attendance time ‘on sanitary grounds’?
   • How does Dr Barry’s account of the event compare to that of the Church officials quoted in the caption above?
   • What evidence is there that the disagreement became more intense?
   • What does this source reveal about the nature of personal testimony in history?

5. Source 5: Reflecting on his career

   This is a third extract from the ‘Memorandum of the Services of Dr James Barry Inspector General of Hospitals’.

   1. 

      On each change of station, I was put to an immense personal outlay, the climates of each being of such different temperatures. Each move entailed a sacrifice of property then in my possession and an outlay to procure that required for the service in prospect. I am now prepared to serve Her Majesty in any quarter of the Globe to which I may be sent and am now loath to close a career which impartially may be deemed to have been useful and faithful one without some special mark of Her Majesty’s favour.

      James Barry M.D.

      Inspector General

   Investigate the source

   • Refer to the background notes below to check on the locations where Dr Barry served during his career.
   • What difficulties did Dr Barry have to overcome with his different postings abroad?
   • Can you think of any difficulties not mentioned in the source?
   • What does this personal statement imply about his character and personality?
   • What does this extract suggest about how Dr Barry felt about his work and career?
   • Can you work out Dr Barry’s age at this time? (Use the background information, Source 1 and Source 5 to help)

6. Source 6: Barry's death

   1. 

      25 Duke Street,

      Westminster

      July 25th  1865

      Sir,

      I have the honour, Inspector General to report that the officer, named in the margin address died at 4’o clock am this morning.

      Dr James Barry

      14 Margaret Street, 

      Cavendish Square’ 

      Disease: Diarrhoea 

      I have the honour to be Sir, your most obedient humble Servant,

      D.R. McKinnon M.B.

      Staff Surgeon, Major.

      Sir J.B. Gibson K.C.B

      Director General

   Investigate the source

   • What was the cause of Dr Barry’s death?
   • What does this letter imply about army record keeping?

7. Source 7: Discoveries after death

   1. 

      General Register Office

      Somerset House

      23rd August 1865

      Sir,

      It has been stated to me that Inspector General Dr James Barry, who died at 14 Margaret Street on 25th July 1865, was after his death found to be female.

      As you furnished the Certificate as to the cause of his death, I take the liberty of asking you whether what I have heard is true, and whether you yourself ascertained that he was a woman and had apparently, been a mother?

      Perhaps you may decline answering these questions, but I ask them not for publication but for my own information.

      I have the honour to be Sir, Your Faithful Servant,

      George Graham

      Register General

      To: Staff Surgeon Major

      D.R. McKinnon

   Investigate the source

   • Who is George Graham?
   • Why is he writing to Staff Surgeon D.R. McKinnon?
   • What is shocking or surprising about this letter?

8. Source 8: Response of Dr McKinnon

   This letter was sent in response to George Graham's letter in Source 7.

   1. 

      I had been intimately acquainted with that gentleman for a good many years, both in the West Indies, & in England and have never had any suspicion that Dr Barry was a female. I attended him during his last illness, and for some months previously for bronchitis and the affection [infection] causing his death was diarrhoea produced apparently by errors in diet.

      On one occasion after Dr Barry’s death, I was sent for to the office of Sir Charles McGregor, and there the woman, who performed the last offices for Dr Barry [laid out the body before burial] was waiting to speak to me.

      She wished to obtain some perquisites [tip/gift in addition to her wages] of her employment which the lady who kept the lodging house in which Dr Barry died had refused to give her.

      Amongst other things she said Dr Barry was a female and that I was a pretty doctor not to know this [not a very good doctor] and that she would not like to be attended by me. I informed her that it was none of my business whether Dr Barry was a male or a female- and that I thought it as likely he might be neither, viz. an imperfectly developed man.

      She then said that she had examined the body and that it was a perfect female and farther that there were marks of her having had a child when young. I then enquired: How have you reached this conclusion? The woman pointing to the lower part of her stomach, said from marks here, I am a married woman, and mother of nine children, I ought to know.

      The woman seemed to me to think that she had become acquainted with a great secret and wished to be paid for keeping it. I informed her that all Dr Barry’s relatives were dead and it was no secret of mine and that my own impression was that Dr Barry was a hermaphrodite [intersex].

      But whether Dr Barry was male or female or hermaphrodite I do not know, nor had I any purpose in making the discovery as I could positively swear to the identity of the body as being that of a person whom I had been acquainted with as Inspector General of Hospitals for a period of eight or nine years.

      Sir 

      Yours faithfully

      Signed

      D.R. McKinnon

      « Return to Dr James Barry

   Investigate the source

   • What are McKinnon’s views concerning Dr Barry?
   • How do his opinions differ from those of the woman mentioned in the extract?
   • Is there anything shocking or surprising about this source?
   • What does this source imply about the life of Dr James Barry?

9. Source 9: A letter to the Medical Times & Gazette

   Shortly after Dr Barry’s death, his history was reported without respect for his personal life in this publication.

   1. 

      He was gifted with much acuteness and had a good memory. So long as he was treated with deference he was good humoured and would enjoy mirth at his own expense; but if anything touched his importance, his anger knew no bounds; there was no authority or station which he (secure in his own importance) would not set at defiance. After this period, he was stationed at Malta and Corfu, and during the Crimean war he appeared with his huge sword and spurs at Balaclava.

      He subsequently obtained the rank of Inspector-General and went to Canada, where he served for several years. He finally retired from service in 1859 and died in London in July last.

      Through life his irritable and impatient temper brought him in constant collision with authority, he was, however, very capable of generous feeling, and of gratitude to those who were kind to him.

      The stories which have circulated about him since his death are too absurd to be gravely disputed. There can be no doubt among those who knew him that his real physical condition was that of a male in whom sexual development had been arrested about the sixth month of foetal life. It is greatly to be regretted that the opportunity of his death was allowed to pass without exact observation of his real condition by a skilled person.

      The real marvel of his history is, that of being of a frame so feeble, without domestic resources, with a temper so irritable and even mischievous, in spite of frequent severe sickness in tropical climates, and constantly at variance with authority, should have attained the highest rank in the Medical Department, and lived to the age of 65 years. 

      August.  Edward Bradford.

   Investigate the source

   • Why do you think Edward Bradford sent this letter to be published in the Medical Times & Gazette?
   • Is Edward Bradford’s action appropriate today?
   • Which qualities outlined in this extract suggest that Dr Barry was a highly effective doctor?
   • Which aspects of his personality reportedly caused him to conflict with authority?
   • Do these aspects explain events described in Source 4?
   • Can you suggest four words to describe Dr Barry’s personality?
   • Which pronouns does this extract use to describe Dr Barry?
   • Does the extract reveal anything about how James Barry chose to live his life?
   • Do you accept Bradford’s conclusion about the ‘real marvel of his (James Barry’s) history’?
   • Is Dr James Barry’s significance based on other reasons suggested by the sources?

10. Source 10: Daily Mail article 1910

    1. 

       Dr James Barry

       Army surgeon and Inspector- General of Hospitals. In a sketch of “his” career Lieutenant-Colonel Rogers advances evidence that he really was a woman.

       In spite of the common opinion that a woman cannot for long pass as a man without arousing suspicion two striking instances have recently come to light where for a number of years the imposition has never been suspected. 

       Marie le Roy passed for twenty-five years as Larry Lloyd at Enfield and her sex was only discovered on her death a few weeks ago, and Mrs Elena Smith has engaged for the last five years in business in New York as “Mr A.L. Martinez” and her sex was not even suspected till she confessed it with some scathing criticism of the American as he appears to his fellow men.

       One of the most interesting of these impersonations is that of Dr James Barry, M.D. Inspector-General of Hospitals, concerning whom Lieutenant-Colonel E Rogers, sends us the following account taken from the introduction of his book: “A Modern Sphinx.

    Investigate the source

    • What is the subject of this article?
    • Can you define the following words in the extract?
      • Impersonation
      • Suspected
      • Confessed
      • Sphinx
    • How does this choice of language set the tone and attitude of the article?
    • Why do you think E. Roger’s book (published in 1881) is called A Modern Sphinx?
    • Why can an article like this be considered shocking and inappropriate today?
    • Does this source reveal anything about attitudes in society in 1910?

Extension activities

• Create an annotated timeline using the Background notes and map to show the career of Dr James Barry.
• Take our quiz on significant indivuals, including Dr James Barry.
• Explore our interactive map of the places Barry visited during his career.

Background information

James Barry’s early life and career

After leaving Ireland, James Barry wrote in 1809 that he was ‘sailing to Edinburgh with his aunt’ who ‘wished to have a Gentleman to take care of her on Board Ship and to have one in a strange country’.

Dr James Barry’s professional service record for the army (WO 25/3910) gives us an outline of his career after qualifying as a doctor at Edinburgh University in 1812. He qualified as a surgeon in 1813 ‘before the College of Surgeons’ in London. He entered the army in the same year and was commissioned as an army hospital assistant and stationed at military hospitals in Chelsea and Plymouth, and later made Assistant Staff Surgeon in December 1815.

Medical service in South Africa

Barry was sent to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) in 1817 as a medical officer, and went with the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, to inspect the frontier settlements. He was then appointed physician to the Governor’s household in 1818. He became Assistant Staff Surgeon in 1822 and Surgeon of the Forces in 1827.

During his time at the Cape, Barry did much to improve the sanitary conditions in army hospitals with better hygiene and diet for the patients and helped to reduce the spread of disease. He also attempted to improve the regulation of medicines sold. At this time, Dr Barry also performed an early successful caesarean section on a society woman, Wilhelmina Munnik, saving the life of both mother and baby. He was also accused of having a relationship with Lord Charles Somerset, which caused a scandal at the time. He went on to serve in Mauritius from 1828 and was recalled owing to the illness of Sir Charles Somerset, who later died.

Posts in the British Caribbean and Malta

Dr Barry was then posted to Jamaica in 1831–2 and returned on leave to England in 1835. As Principal Medical Officer, he was later ordered to St Helena (1836), and then to the Windward and Leeward Islands for 12 months. Later in Antigua, Barbados (1838) and Trinidad, he was in medical charge of the troops while the Inspector General was absent. He returned to England having contracted yellow fever in Trinidad. He resumed service in Malta as Principal Medical Officer, where, according to ‘A memorandum of the Services of Dr James Barry, Inspector General of Hospitals’, (WO 138/1): ‘I also had the thanks of the Duke of Wellington for my services during [which] that island (Malta) was visited by the cholera’.

Promotion to Deputy Inspector General

After this, Dr James Barry was promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General in the Ionian Islands when he cared for sick soldiers sent to Corfu, wounded during the Crimean War. Barry went on to serve in Crimea for three months where he allegedly had a public spat with Florence Nightingale. After his exceptional work in Greece, which included supporting soldiers of his regiment in Piraeus with ‘medicines, comforts and supplies’, he was also praised by Admiral Lyons for ‘commanding the “Modeste” for my zeal and service having discovered the cause of the malignant fever on board that vessel and for my successful treatment of the sick and the purification of the ship’ (Catalogue reference: WO 138/1).

Later career, retirement and death

He was promoted to the highest rank in the army as Inspector General of Hospitals in the British colony of Canada in 1857. He continued to reform living conditions for soldiers and prisoners and those suffering from leprosy. He returned to London after contracting a severe case of bronchitis in 1859, arriving in March 1860 after a difficult sea voyage. He lived in London in retirement and died in 1865. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery following a military funeral.

Dr Barry in The National Archives

In a letter from Dr McKinnon replying to George Graham on 24 August 1865 (Catalogue reference: WO 138/1), it is mentioned that a woman claimed that Dr James Barry ‘was a female’ and wanted money to keep the ‘great secret’. Dr Barry left instructions that his body was not to be examined after his death. In documents he consistently identified himself as male and uses male pronouns. He signs himself as ‘Dr James Barry’ and refers to himself as ‘gentleman’. In character, he appears to have had a reputation for being highly outspoken. The document (Catalogue reference: PRO 30/46/18) concerning a clash he had with church authorities in Canada gives us a little window into his personality but also highlights his constant concern for the soldiers of his regiment.

The documents reveal Dr James Barry not as woman living as a man choosing a medical career, but as a man living a man’s life within the society he found himself in.

Legacy and importance

Barry could not have used the term ‘transgender’ to describe himself in the nineteenth century. Our understanding of gender and sexuality has changed a lot since the times of James Barry. ‘Transgender’, meaning someone whose gender identity differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth, was not a term used in the 1800s.

However, from today’s perspective, research has shown him to be a significant figure in the context of trans history, and an important character in the history of medicine as both a pioneer and reformer. According to Jack Doyle, in his article ‘“The Trans Take”: Towards a Transgender Public History’ (2019), ‘lives like James Barry’s are fascinating precisely because they reveal the ways in which trans and gender-nonconforming people have navigated, embodied, and survived gender across historical and cultural contexts.’

The importance of archives in LGBTQ+ histories

Archives can reveal historical sources for LGBTQ+ lives that can help us to understand their stories and how they were treated in society. Sometimes, these histories appear to be ‘hiding in plain sight’, and other times are more difficult to find.

In some cases, we find out about stories like that of Dr James Barry because their privacy has been invaded, in this case after death. The history of some transgender people may remain untold without the legacy of personal records. Hopefully, the archival material held in The National Archives relating to Dr James Barry can serve to reveal the power of this history and its importance for identity.

Useful links

Researching LGBTQ+ history

Collection blog

Researching LGBTQ+ histories in the archives of government

In this blog post Vicky Iglikowski-Broad explains how you can get started in researching LGBTQ+ histories through government records.

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