There weren’t many female physicians in the 19th century. Irishwoman Margaret Bulkley pretended to be Dr James Barry for over 40 years to practise medicine. This article explains how this happened, Bulkley’s life in Malta and how we know what happened.
Her early life
Most sources agree Margaret Bulkley was born in 1789 in Cork, Ireland1. Her father was a merchant who supplied the formidable British Navy based in Cork2. With the 1798 rebellion her father lost his business and ended up in debt2.
Margaret and her mother fled to London2. They lived with her mother’s brother the painter James Barry2. Margaret decided to disguise herself as a boy to be able to study medicine2. She adopted her uncle’s name and Edinburgh University2 3 accepted her in either 18094 or 18103.
At university rumours soon started to spread; not that he was a woman, but that he must be a pre-pubescent boy5. People were so sure a woman couldn’t get a university education it didn’t even occur to them “James” might be female.
She returned to London a qualified surgeon2.
Taking another bold leap, Barry joined the British Army2. Some records claim this was as a hospital assistant on 05 July 18133 4, before becoming the Medical Inspector for Cape Town in 18153. Other sources claim he went to Cape Town in 18125.
In due course, the British forces sent Dr Barry to Malta.
Barry in Malta
For 46 years4 Dr Barry fooled everyone in the four corners of the world2. On 02 November 18464 6, the army posted Barry to Malta as the Principal Medical Officer for the islands6.
He arrived from Gibraltar on 17 November4. In December 1846, days after arriving, Barry attended a service in St Paul’s Cathedral in Valletta. Governor Sir Patrick Stuart scolded Barry for sitting in stalls reserved for clergy4 6.
Barry took a room at the Claredon hotel in Valletta before settling in the modern town of Sliema4. His Sliema landlord swore he knew Barry was a woman because he would say of him “Dan ix-xitan ghandu ikun mara.” (This devil should be a woman.)4
Sliema was growing in the 1840s. Barry must have lived close to the Chapel of Divine Grace which the British administration funded.
Given Sliema’s size and what society was like, Barry must have known the Prince of Capua too. It is interesting to note that Barry and Penelope Smyth – the Prince’s wife – are both Irish women living in Sliema, Malta in the 19th century.
On 06 September 1848 a cholera epidemic hit the troops in Fort St Elmo7. Barry refused to diagnose this as cholera having seen an outbreak in Mauritius in 18194. He insisted this was a case of diahorrea6. Two other surgeons backed this conclusion blaming stagnant water as the cause6. Barry performed a post-mortem on an alleged cholera victim showing it was not the case4.
In 1849, Barry introduced a bus to cart sick soldiers up to the military hospital from Customs House quay6. While there were ferries to take soldiers across the harbour from Fort Ricasoli, there was no further transportation for them. Some were too weak to walk up the steep hill to the hospital6. No one did anything about this till Barry changed the situation.
The Duke of Wellington commended Barry’s work in preventing a typhus epidemic4 5. He promoted Barry to the highest rank available to an army doctor – Inspector-General of hospitals. This is the equivalent of Brigadier-General.
On 01 April 1851, the Malta Times reported on Barry’s departure from the islands for Corfu noting that “the soldiers and the poor particularly, as well as a numerous acquaintance amongst the first circles in the island will regret their loss”4.
Dr Barry is well-known for advancing medicine in many ways.
Barry’s medical career
Dr Barry went on to advance medicine as we know it2. His insistence on hygiene started in South Africa where Barry’s temper and outbursts revolutionised healthcare3 5 and predated Florence Nightingale’s instructions in the Crimea2.
He developed a plant-based cure for syphilis and gonorrhoea5, promoted the novel notion of clean water, fresh air and a healthy diet3 5, and introduced a vaccination for smallpox5.
In 1826 (or 18203) he carried out the first successful Caesarian delivery2 where both mother and child survived.
Dr Barry managed to keep his secret up till the moment of his death.
Death
On 25 July 18654 , Dr Barry died in Marlyebone6 London2. He’d left strict instructions that they should bury his body with whatever clothes he was wearing at the time of death2 5. This is an obvious ploy to ensure no one discovers the truth about Margaret/James.
Sophia Bishop3 was the charwoman employed to lay out the body and who discovered the truth2 3. She tried and failed to blackmail the British Army about this2.
She went to the press with the news which was broadcast in Dublin first, before the rest of the Empire2 3. The Malta Times later reported this on 05 October 18654.
- Dr James Barry: the Irishwoman who fooled the British Empire; Michael du Preez and Jeremy Dronfield; Irish Times, The; 2016-09-06[↩]
- Dr Barry: the Irishwoman who fooled the British Empire; Michael du Preez and Jeremy Dronfield; Irish Times, The; 2016-09-06[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Dr Barry: military man – or woman?; Kathleen M. Smith; US National Library of Medicine; (Retrieved 2019-11-01) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Dr Barry: an enigmatic army medical doctor; Savona-Ventura, Charles; University of Malta; 1996[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Wild Irish Women: Dr Barry; Roemary Rogers; Irish America; 2018-12[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Service Record — James Miranda Stuart Barry; Medical officers of the Malta garrison; (Retrieved 2019-11-01) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Dr Barry: an enigmatic army medical doctor; Savona-Ventura, Charles; University of Malta; 1996[↩]