When Dr. James Barry died in 1865, the charwoman preparing his body screamed—the legendary surgeon who’d dueled, cursed, and saved thousands was a woman. And the British Army vowed to bury the truth.
This was Margaret Ann Bulkley, born in 1789, who had lived her entire adult life disguised as a man named James Barry.
Her ambition was to study medicine, an impossible dream for a woman in the early 19th century. So, in 1809, "James Barry" enrolled at Edinburgh University.
She graduated in 1812, becoming the first woman in Britain to earn a medical degree, though no one knew her secret.
In 1813, Dr. Barry joined the British Army, embarking on a remarkable medical career that spanned decades and continents.
One of her most notable achievements came in 1826 in Cape Town, Africa. Dr. Barry performed the first successful Caesarean section on the continent where both mother and child survived.
Throughout her service, she rose to the rank of Inspector-General of Hospitals, the Army’s highest medical position at the time.
Dr. Barry was known for a fiery temper and even fought duels with those who questioned him. Yet, she also championed vital reforms in sanitation, nutrition, and humane care for soldiers, prisoners, and even lepers.
Her original plan, conceived with her uncle, was to support a Venezuelan rebellion. When that revolutionary plan collapsed, Margaret was forced to continue the disguise of James Barry to pursue her medical career.
It was only upon her death from dysentery in July 1865 that her biological sex was discovered by the woman laying out her body. The revelation caused a significant scandal.
To avoid further embarrassment and controversy, the British Army sealed Dr. Barry's records for 100 years, attempting to obscure this extraordinary life from public knowledge.
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