James Barry (1792-1795 – 25 July 1865), was a military surgeon in the British Army. After graduation from the University of Edinburgh, Barry served in India and Cape Town, South Africa. By the end of his career, he had risen to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. In his travels he not only improved conditions for wounded soldiers, but also the conditions of the native inhabitants. Among his accomplishments was the first...
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James Barry (1792-1795 – 25 July 1865), was a military surgeon in the British Army. After graduation from the University of Edinburgh, Barry served in India and Cape Town, South Africa. By the end of his career, he had risen to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. In his travels he not only improved conditions for wounded soldiers, but also the conditions of the native inhabitants. Among his accomplishments was the first successful caesarean section in Africa by a British surgeon, in which both the mother and child survived the operation.
Although Barry lived his adult life as a man, the sex he was assigned at birth is disputed. It is widely believed that Barry was assigned female at birth and was previously named Margaret Ann Bulkley, and that he chose to live as a man so that he might be accepted as a university student and be able to pursue his chosen career as a surgeon. If so, then Barry was the first Briton who was assigned female at birth to become a...
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