Woman Who Lived as a Man

Radio Record, Volume VII, Issue 8, 1 September 1933, Page 47

Woman Who Lived as a Man

A book, published some months ago, is the remarkablye imaginative biography of Dr. James Barry,.a brilliant doctor who~«rose to the position of Inspector General of the Army Medical Department, and after death, was found to be a woman. The book is entitled "Dr. James Barry; Her Secret Story," by Olgar Ractter and Jessica Grove, who state that their interest in this "unbelievable romance" of more than a century ago was aroused on hearing that the woods. near Camps Bay, Cape. Town, were haunted by a young officer in Georgian. uniform, whose name in life was Dr. James Barry. There are very few facts known about the life of this woman who from the age of 20 posed as a man. An abtract from the Dictionary of National Biography prefaces the book. It is as follows: "Barry, James (1795-1865) Inspector-General of the Army Medical Department. A woman who passed through life as a man. Said to have been the dranddaughter of a Scottish Warl. Seryed at the Cape and at Malta. Lord Albermarle met her at Capetown when she was medical adviser to the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, as well as Staff Surgeon. The most skilful of physicians and the most wayward of mén! Died at 14 Margaret Street, London, July 25, 1865, when an. official report was sent to Horse Guards that she was a"woman. Motive alleged for disguise-love for an Army surgeon." These facts were first made the basis of the play, "Dr. James Barry’ ’(by the authors of this book) which was produced in 1919 at the St. James’ Theatre, ‘with Sybil Thorndike as the doctor. The story begin in Edinburgh where "James Barry" is a medical student, having fled from a brutal husband, and her secret is shared by Lord Charles Somerset, who witnessed the final and particularly violent scené between husband and wife, and assured her an appointment in South Africa. In South Africa we see Dr. Barry as a very dashing and dapper young army doctor. A very ambitious one too. . He was regarded as eminently eligible by mothers of daughters, whose attentions are not the least of the embarrassments entailed by being a woman in man’s unifiors. As it is authority the little doctor seeks, Lord Charles is persuaded to appoint him Inspector of the Colonial Medical Board, Vaccination Officer of the Port, Inspector of Prisons, and Physician to the Governor’s Householdappointments which caused no little jealousy. Dr. Barry fights for reforms in the prison and the ‘hospital, fights against cruelty, and against the charge of being an impudent jackanapes, and even engages in more than one duel with swords and fists. He makes an enemy of. Captain Cloete, the Governor’s aide, who accuses him: of flirting with al lthe pretty young women. Another enemy is a doctory attending a Mrs..Munnik, who is. desperately ill before the birth of a child. Dr. Barry takes charge’ and saves the life of mother and child by a: Caesarian operation. The boy ‘is christened James Barry: Munnik out of gratitude. An interesting fact’ is that General Hertzog, South Africa’s Prime Minister is a grandson of this a ames Barry Munnik. .

Dr. Barry gains a reputation for skill as a surgeon, an dis also called upon to play a part as a soldier in defending the women and children against hostile natives. As this woman in uniform is lying behind a barried_ with Lord Charles and Oaptain Cloete, her ‘thought present a retrospect of her ‘life, and we now see that it was love for a man deliberately sent by her husband to his death in a far country that made her eager to become, unknown, the first woman doctor. The husband, Sir Thomas Barrymore is eventually sent out to Africa by the Government to i. vestigate complaints against the administration. He recognises his wife, but accuses her, as Dr. Barry, of having blundered. She resigns all ther appointments, but is immediately given a new one in Jamaica. . Many years later, General Sir Joshu Cloete visits Dr. Barry, and there is a talk 'of old imes. Of those years we are told nothing, but the biography throws an interesting light on a.strange life which hitherto has been (as the writers say) a buried romance.