Editing James Barry (surgeon) (section)

==Career==
<!--NOTE: This article refers to Barry as "Barry" wherever possible, avoiding specifically male or female third person pronouns.-->
[[Image:James Barry (surgeon)05.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of James Barry, painted {{Circa|1813}}–1816]]
Upon joining the army, Barry was commissioned as a Hospital Assistant in the British Army on 6 July 1813, taking up posts in Chelsea and then the [[HMNB Devonport|Royal Military Hospital in Plymouth]], achieving a promotion to Assistant Surgeon to the Forces, equivalent to lieutenant, on 7 December 1815.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|pp=101–105}}<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17096|page=4|date= 2 January 1816}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17106|page=205|date=3 February 1816}}</ref>

Following this military training, Barry was posted to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1816.{{sfn|Kubba|Young|2001|p=352}}{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|pp=115–118}} Through Lord Buchan, Barry had a letter of introduction to the Governor, [[Lord Charles Somerset|Lieutenant General Lord Charles Somerset]].{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|p=119}} Following the successful, even spectacular, treatment of Lord Charles's sick daughter, Barry was welcomed into the family,{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|p=123}} maintained a close friendship with the Governor, and became his personal physician. In 1822 Somerset appointed Barry as Colonial Medical Inspector,{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|p=167}} an extraordinary jump in expectations from Barry's low military rank, which brought with it great responsibility. Over ten years of work in the Cape, Barry effected significant changes, among them improvements to sanitation and water systems, improved conditions for enslaved people, prisoners and the mentally ill, and provision of a sanctuary for the leper population. Barry also performed one of the first known successful [[Caesarean section]]s in which both mother and child survived;{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|pp=215, 216}} the child was christened James Barry Munnik in Barry's honour, and the name was passed down through the family, leading to Barry's name being borne by a later Prime Minister of South Africa, [[J. B. M. Hertzog]]. Barry also gained enemies by criticising local officials and their handling of medical matters, but the advantage of a close relationship with the Governor meant that the repercussions of these outspoken views were usually smoothed over.

Barry was promoted to Surgeon to the Forces on 22 November 1827.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=18424|page=2582|date=18 December 1827}}</ref> Barry's subsequent posting was to [[Mauritius]] in 1828. In 1829, Barry risked a great deal of trouble by going absent without leave to return to England and treat Lord Charles Somerset, who had fallen ill, and remained there until Lord Charles' death in 1831.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|pp=228,231}} Barry's subsequent posting was to [[Jamaica]], and then the island of [[Saint Helena]] in 1836. At St Helena, one clash with a fellow army surgeon resulted in Barry being arrested and [[court-martial]]led on a charge of "conduct unbecoming of the character of an Officer and a Gentleman". Barry was found not guilty, and honourably acquitted.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|pp=268–271}}

In 1840, Barry was posted to the [[Leeward Islands]] and [[Windward Islands]] of the West Indies, there focusing on medicine, management and improving the conditions of the troops, and receiving a promotion to [[Royal Army Medical Corps#Military abbreviations applicable to the Medical Corps|Principal Medical Officer]]. In 1845, Barry contracted [[yellow fever]] and left for England for sick leave in October. After being cleared for duty, Barry was posted to [[Malta]] in 1846. Here Barry was severely reprimanded for inexplicably taking a seat in the local church that was reserved for the clergy, and had to deal with the threat – and eventual actuality – of [[1846–1860 cholera pandemic|a cholera epidemic]], which broke out in 1850.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|loc= pp. 251, 252 citing Bradford, Edward, 'The Reputed Female Army Surgeon', The Medical Times and Gazette vol. II for 1865, p. 293.}}

The following posting was to [[Corfu]] in 1851, which brought with it a promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals on 16 May, equivalent to [[lieutenant colonel]].<ref name="Lords" />{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|loc= pp. 251, 252 citing Bradford, Edward, 'The Reputed Female Army Surgeon', The Medical Times and Gazette vol. II for 1865, p. 293.}}<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21210|page=1296|date=16 May 1851}}</ref>  In 1857 Barry was posted to Canada, and granted the local rank of [[Inspector General#United Kingdom|Inspector General]] of Hospitals (equivalent to [[Brigadier General]]) on 25 September.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=6740|page=873|date=29 September 1857|city=Edinburgh}}</ref> In that position, Barry fought for better food, sanitation and proper medical care for prisoners and [[Leprosy|lepers]], as well as soldiers and their families.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|loc= pp. 251, 252 citing Bradford, Edward, 'The Reputed Female Army Surgeon', The Medical Times and Gazette vol. II for 1865, p. 293.}} This local rank was confirmed as substantive on 7 December 1858.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22214|page=5589|date=31 December 1858}}</ref>
[[File:Photograph; Dr. James Barry with negro servant and dog. Wellcome L0022267.jpg|thumb|Barry (left) with John, a servant, and Barry's dog, Psyche, c. 1862, Jamaica]]
Wherever Barry served across the British Empire, improvements were made to sanitary conditions and the conditions and diet of both the common soldier and other under-represented groups. Barry was outraged by unnecessary suffering, and took a heavy-handed and sometimes tactless approach to demanding improvements for the poor and underprivileged which often incited anger from officials and military officers; on several occasions Barry was both arrested and demoted for the extremity of this behaviour. Barry held strict views about nutrition, being completely [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] and [[Teetotalism|teetotal]], and, while keeping most personal relationships distant, was very fond of pets, particularly a beloved poodle named Psyche.{{sfn|du Preez|Dronfield|2016|loc= pp. 251, 252 citing Bradford, Edward, 'The Reputed Female Army Surgeon', The Medical Times and Gazette vol. II for 1865, p. 293.}} The name of the black servant Barry first employed in South Africa and who remained with Barry until the doctor's death is not precisely known, though Charles Dickens, in a fictionalized account of Barry's life, calls him "Black John".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dickens |first=Charles |date=18 May 1867 |title=A Mystery Still. |url=https://www.archive.org/details/sim_all-the-year-round_1867-05-18_17_421/page/492 |journal=[[All the Year Round]] |volume=17 |pages=494–495 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Playwright Jean Binnie's radio play ''Doctor Barry'' (BBC, 1982) identified him as John Joseph Danson.<ref name="Binnie1982">{{Cite web |title=Dr Barry |last=Binnie |first=Jean |work=BBC Radio 4 Extra |date=1982 |access-date=13 April 2018 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09yh0qg}}</ref>