Doctor James (Miranda) Barry
(1795? - 1865) U.K.
Army surgeon and Inspector General of Hospitals
Not a transvestite, but a passing woman & a bisexual, born Miranda Barry, of Irish and English descent, she was the first woman doctor in the Western world. Posing as a boy, she entered and graduated from Edinburgh Medical School in 1814, and then served in the British Military disguised as a male surgeon for over forty-five years, working throughout the British colonies (including Canada, thus becoming the first female doctor to practice in Canada).
Accounted an extraordinarily good surgeon, and promoted a lot. Performed the 2nd ever successful caesarian section in 1819. Instituted a number of medical reforms. Regarded as a dandy and flirtatious, she was known for sexual peccadilloes involving fellow officer's wives and the officers themselves. She fought a duel over one woman in 1819.
Barry arrived at the Cape in 1817, when he would have been about twenty-two. Red-haired, he wore three-inch soles on his shoes, and his shoulders seemed to be padded with cotton wool, so that the Malay people called him the "Kapok Doctor". Barry had studied at Edinburgh University, sponsored by the Earl of Buchan. Graduating at the age of eighteen, he served in Spain and Belgium, possibly at Waterloo. Afterwards, he served in India, before being posted to the Cape.
Dr. Barry would ride about in dress uniform and cocked hat, carrying a parasol, and accompanied by a black manservant. Although skilful with the rapier, it was a huge cavalry sword that he wore. He also had a black poodle, Psyche, which he took every day to a confectioners for a treat.
Though privately commenting on Barry's effeminacy, the officers were impressed by his bad temper. At the house Alphen, Dr. Barry fought a pistol duel with one Josias Cloete. The reason for the duel is disputed, but nobody was hurt. It was Cloete who was punished, however, being banished to the garrison on the cold and remote island of Tristan da Cunha.
Barry generally escaped severe punishment, probably because of protection from the Earl of Buchan, believed by some to have been his father or grandfather. In fact, Barry was promoted to the rank of Medical Inspector for the colony, only weeks after his arrival. The fact that he had saved the life of one of Lord Somerset's daughters could have done his career no harm. His bad behaviour did, however, often lead to his being sent home under arrest.
Dr. Barry was not bad-tempered with patients. A woman at the Cape told him "No man could show such sympathy for one in pain." In what was said to have been the first Caesarian section performed in the English-speaking world, Dr. Barry saved a baby which was christened James Barry Munnik. This child in turn became godfather to James Barry Munnik Hertzog, later prime minister of South Africa. The grateful Munnik family commissioned the only known portrait of Dr. Barry. You may see the painting in the Alphen Hotel. The eyes follow you around the room, but this is just the skill of the artist.
Nobody doubted his abilities or his intellect. With Sherlock Holmesian deduction, Barry traced the cause of Cape Town's impure water supply, and arranged for a better system.
Barry was a vegetarian, and took a goat everywhere for its milk. He advised patients to bathe in wine, as he believed that the alcohol reduced the risk of infections.
Barry did handle cases that other doctors regarded as beneath their dignity. Barry denounced the cruelty and negligence of the officials in whose care were prisoners, lepers and lunatics. This led to accusations of defamation, but Barry tore up the summons and refused to answer questions. The Fiscal sentenced him to imprisonment, but Lord Somerset set aside the punishment. Dr. Barry commented "If I had had my sword on when Mr. Fiscal proposed sending me to the tronk (gaol), I would certainly have cut off both his ears to make him look smart." The matter led to Barry losing his position as Medical Inspector, to be sent back to Britain. An advertisement in a Cape Town newspaper, dated September 1, 1828, referred to Dr. Barry's farewell dinner.
Dr. Barry cultivated a reputation as a ladies' man, and one of Lord Somerset's daughters was said to have been in love with him. However, a placard appeared on a wall, accusing the governor of a homosexual relationship with Barry. This was not enough for Somerset to get rid of Barry, but it may have fuelled his opposition to a free press. Dr. Barry was a toady in some respects, but according to Lawrence Green, he opposed Lord Somerset on this issue.
Lord Somerset privately commented that Dr. Barry was the finest doctor that he had ever seen, but "absurd in everything else". He obviously found the doctor entertaining company, however, and often invited him to the Round House. Dr. Barry also worked on the eastern frontier, during a war between the white settlers and the Xhosa nation.
Subsequent postings included Mauritius, Trinidad and the island of Saint Helena, where he continued to have trouble with local officials. From Saint Helena, he returned to England without official leave. Barry told his annoyed superior that he had come back for a haircut. Again Barry survived where others would have been imprisoned or dishonourably discharged, and he served in Malta, Corfu, the Crimea (where he insulted Florence Nightingale), Jamaica and Canada. In Montreal, he was a magnificent sight in winter, wearing musk ox robes and being driven in a sleigh by two footmen. He had reached the rank of Inspector General of H.M. Army Hospitals, at the head of the army lists for that branch. No military doctor could reach a higher rank.
In 1864, Barry retired. He returned to England, still with a black manservant and a poodle called Psyche. The daughters of Lord Somerset called on him, and took him for carriage rides.
 In 1865, Barry died. A doctor signed the death certificate without realising that Dr. Barry was a woman. A charwoman who laid out the body was more observant. The manservant, John, may have been Dr. Barry's close confidante, as every day he brought her the six clean towels which she used to disguise her shape. Dr. Barry was buried in Kensal Rise cemetery, London, with 'his' name and rank on the gravestone.
About six weeks after Barry's death, the news reached South Africa. Of course, after the event, many people claimed to have known her secret all along.
Sometimes, Dr. Barry's middle name is given as "Miranda". Perhaps the story arose out of the similarity of Dr. Barry's name to that of James M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, whose middle name was Matthew. It is possible, however, that her real name was Miranda Stuart.
In 1951, Lawrence Green asserted that Cape Town's nursemaids still told children "Old Dr. Barry's ghost will get you if you stay out late." Bearing in mind Antjie Somers, this seems to indicate a peculiar fear of transvestites, of both sexes.
Source: the above article originally appeared on www.vanhunks.com and is © of the author of that same site. We thank him for having kindly given us the authorization to publish it here.
If this article has aroused your interest, you might like the historical novel, The Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry, by Anne & Ivan Kronenfeld.
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