History, Feminism
Female Surgeon In The Guise Of A Man
James Barry performed the first known successful Caesarean section
James Miranda Steuart Barry was a celebrated surgeon of the British Military. His feats in the medical field were astonishing.
During his service in the British Army, he had risen to become the Inspector General of the military hospitals. He not only improved the conditions for the injured but also for the native people residing wherever he took the post. He was the first to perform a successful Caesarean section.
Celebrities are prone to controversies surrounding their lives. James Barry was no different. He was berated for his tempestuous tantrums, illicit attention to women, effeminate nature, and, at one point, homosexuality.
But one discovery about James Barry shook the world.
James Barry was, in fact, a woman in disguise. A woman concealing a very painful past.
Margaret To James
The real name of James Barry was Margaret Ann Bulkley. She was born in Cork, Ireland, in the year 1789 (Her date of birth is unknown as she had changed her birth date for college admissions). She was the second child of Jeremiah and Mary-ann Bulkley.
Due to financial instability caused by Jeremiah, whose debts landed him in the Marshalsea prison in Dublin, Mary-ann and Margaret moved to Mary-ann’s brother, James Barry’s place in London.
James Barry was a famed Irish artist, and he introduced Margaret into his elite circle. Many claimed that Margaret’s intelligence is bound to take her places. There is an instance where Margaret reprimanded her brother, John Bulkley, for his capricious nature, which shows her determination to excel.
“Was I not a girl I would be a Soldier!”
James Barry wanted to help his niece with her life but unfortunately passed away in 1806. Margaret’s uncle’s liberal-minded friends — General Fransisco de Miranda (whose name Margaret later took as her middle name), Dr. Edward Fryer (her personal tutor), and Daniel Reardon (family solicitor) helped her land a medical school, the University of Edinburgh in 1809.
Margaret took her uncle’s name James Barry and went into the school as his nephew. She wore long coats and 3-inch shoe inserts to mask her identity. Yet, her diminutive stature, squeaky voice, and clear skin drew a lot of stares.
Many thought she was a pre-pubescent boy masquerading as a man. The University Senate even attempted to stop her from attending her final examinations presenting her youth as a reason. But this was intervened by the Earl of Buchan, a friend of Dr. Fryer and Barry.
She was successfully qualified for the Medicinae Docter (M.D). She also passed the examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 2nd July 1813.
Life As James Barry
Margaret, as James Barry, was posted into the British Army as Hospital Assistant on 6th July 1813 and later promoted to Assistant Surgeon on 7th December 1815. Following military training, she was posted to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1816.
While posted, James Barry received a letter of introduction to the Governor, Lieutenant General Lord Charles Henry Somerset. She saved Somerset’s sick daughter’s life and was welcomed into the family. Both got into a very close bond that many suspected was adulterous. She was appointed as the Colonial Medical Inspector by Somerset.
James Barry was considered a cantankerous, strict doctor. She had been known to lash out at people who called her effeminate. After her (Margaret’s) death, Florence Nightingale proclaimed her hatred for the doctor.
I never had such a blackguard rating in all my life. After “he” was dead, I was told that (Barry) was a woman . . . I should say that (Barry) was the most hardened creature I ever met. — Florence Nightingale.
Despite the condemnation, her contribution is laudable.
She made significant improvements to sanitation and water systems for the enslaved, imprisoned, and downgraded community of people, including the leper population.
She also performed a successful Caesarean where, for the first time, both the mother and child survived. The child was christened James Barry Munnik in her honor.
Revelation
James Barry passed away on 19th July 1865, aged 76, due to dysentery. Till then, James insisted on not undressing in front of others and also wanted to be buried in the same dress as he (she) had died in.
But fortunately or unfortunately, the maid, Sophia Bishop (supposedly), discovered female anatomy upon undressing him (her). Moreover, there was another shocking revelation.
She had stretch marks on her belly, indicating a pregnancy. Investigations revealed that Margaret had been molested by an uncle (Not James Barry! Don’t even go there) as a teenager, and she had given birth to a girl child, Juliana, who was later raised as the third child of Jeremiah and Mary-ann.
Letters sent by James Barry and Margaret Bulkley further prove that both are the same (Ignore James’s doctor scribble and notice the patterns in Ms and Ws).
Women before Margaret (even Margaret herself had to don a disguise), never had the opportunity to rise as a surgeon. Even after her passing, it took four years for a university (the University of Edinburgh) to accept a woman (Sophia Jex-Blake) for education.
Years have come and gone, but women are still given stink-eyes for trying to pursue an education that is deemed “above their caliber.” Margaret’s life as a disguised doctor proves that it is high time women are treated equally.
