TOPIC:

Single – QSA no clasp impressed D.G. Barry

Dirk Gysbert Barry received the QSA medal in his capacity as Clerk and Acting Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate for Bredasdorp. The medal roll for the Attorney General Ministerial Division more particularly records that he served in the role of Deputy Administrator Martial Law from 1 March 1902 until Martial Law was repealed.

From my point of view a desirable medal as he “fits” my theme of Cape Rebels and the British response and their hard headed and sometimes disdainful policies employed in their endeavour to bring the War to a timeous end.

Interestingly, Barry is also listed as a Private on the unapproved medal roll for the Bredasdorp Town Guard for which the issue of no medals were authorised.

Genealogical records record that Dirk Gysbert Barry was born in Swellendam on 29 November 1847.

Those of you who have a good knowledge of mid-19th century South African history may already have guessed that this simple medal and the story of Dirk’s parentage provides an interesting window into the economic development of the Cape Colony during those early years.

It is his father, Josephs' life’s story which stands tall in the history of South Africa and which in my view adds much to the story behind the this seemingly innocuous medal awarded to his son.

I have unashamedly lifted much of the following details directly from the various Barry Websites published on the Web.

Gysbert’s illustrious father Joseph Barry was born in 1796 being the 16th and youngest son of the victualler and gentleman inn keeper Richard Barry of Hitchin a market town in the North Hertfordshire. Joseph’s parents both died when he was quite young and he subsequently spent some years in France and Spain as a teenager studying the wine trade under the tutelage of his older brothers Charles Frisby Barry and Michael Barry who had married a French lady, Theresa Victoria Josephine Marquette, in 1816.

While in France, Joseph found himself caught up in the path of Napoleon heading through the South of France after his escape from Elba in 1815. Joseph was arrested as a spy in Valence and again in Avignon until a certificate proving he was a commercial man could be obtained from Lyons. He avoided Napoleon at Marseilles and was nearly ship wrecked on the way to Spain to join a commercial firm connected with his brother Charles. It is rumoured that he developed a slight limp from falling whilst serenading a senorita in Romeo and Juliet style!

As a young man of 21 years Joseph Barry was commissioned by the London Wine House, Barry & Wilkinson, to act as their agent for the export of wines from the Cape in 1817. He travelled out to the Cape but unfortunately this enterprise failed. He returned to Britain however due to his ill heath he decided to return to the warmer Cape climate. Soon after arriving in Cape Town, he was granted permission to remain and in 1819 he returned to make the Cape his home.

Joseph Barry’s capacity for hard work, his engaging personality and his reputation as a man of many scruples enabled him to build a successful business empire. In 1822 he won a tender to supply provisions to the drought stricken Overberg. Circumventing the long hazardous overland journey he chartered a ship, the Duke of Gloucester, to transport a load of rice, grain and merchandise, of which the Overberg was in desperate need, from Cape Town to Port Beaufort. This venture made him a handsome profit and he quickly realised that there was a genuine need for regular trade by ship between Cape Town and the Overberg. His Barry Trading Company flourished as the overland trip was not only expensive but also a risky undertaking as a farmer might be away from his farm and his family for a period up to two months. He soon became quite influential and was appointed as the Deputy Sheriff and later Civil Commissioner of Swellendam.

However, coupled with several misfortunes including the sinking of his ship the Sincapore and the long wait to be paid by the government for goods transported to the frontier settlers at Albany, he was declared bankrupt in 1827. Notwithstanding these setbacks he managed to pay off his debts through his enterprising work as a building contractor, post contractor and holder, deputy sheriff and auctioneer and by 1830 his fortunes began to change once again.

With his keen entrepreneurial flair, he persuaded his two nephews, Thomas and John Barry who were both only slightly younger than he was, to assist him with the rapid expansion of his business. Their participation led to the founding of the firm Barry & Nephews on 1st June 1834. The new firm traded by ship all along the East coast from Cape Town to Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) and from Port Beaufort up the Breede River to Malgas. From there it was just a short ox wagon journey to the Barry trading store in Swellendam and then further over the Tradouw Mountain Pass to Barrydale. In this way the Barry boys did much to promote the farming in the Overberg. By the 1840s Barry & Nephews were loading woollen cloth direct for London at Port Beaufort. They encouraged the farmers to improve the quality of their vines and wool. Eventually fifteen Barry trading stores were established from Cape Town to Mossel Bay and to Ladismith in the Cape interior requiring more managers to oversee the expansion of the business and, in this way, many more members of their family became involved. Unfortunately, the Cape of Storms was not without its own hazards and in 1848 their 149 ton Cape Coastal schooner, which they had named Barry I, was wrecked in a south easter storm off Struisbaai. Fortunately, no lives were lost. A few years later, their second schooner Barry II, set out on a voyage with a cargo of brandy, wool, barley, aloes and animal skins to London from Port Beaufort in 1857and it too was wrecked. Tragically on this occasion three lives were lost.

By the end of the 1830s, the Barry Boys had significantly opened up trade opportunities for the Overberg farmers. In those early days in the Cape Colony there were no wide spread banks to provide for the safe keeping of money. To overcome this the firm established “Counting Houses” across the Overberg and in Cape Town. Here they kept a certain amount of ready cash, but of great historical and economic importance were the five-pound Barry & Nephews promissory ‘bank’ notes which the firm issued. These were specially printed in London on watermarked paper and these notes soon became readily accepted and today, signed notes in particular, are eagerly sought after by banknote collectors.

Due to the Overberg’s subsequent prosperity banks were soon established throughout the region. Joseph chaired a Swellendam branch, while John Barry became Chairman of the Cape of Good Hope bank in Montagu. By 1859 they were annually shipping a million pounds of wool from Port Beaufort to London. By this time Joseph’s younger nephew partner John had established himself in London taking charge of the London branch and he persuaded one of the established Imperial banks to extend itself to the Cape Colony. He subsequently became one of its founding directors and assisted in the opening the first Imperial London and South Africa Bank in the Cape in 1860. In later years his two sons, Sir Jacob Dirk Barry (married to Prime Minister John X Merriman’s sister, Charlotte) and Thomas Daniel Barry were listed as shareholders before it was eventually absorbed by Standard Bank of South Africa. He was not only a merchant and a businessman, for he also acted as an attorney, a lawyer, an agent and an auctioneer. He served as the Deputy Sheriff of the district and, when the occasion arose, also as the Commandant of the Militia. Generally, the farmers were well-disposed towards him, particularly because he could give them legal advice, and they valued his judgment. When representative government at the Cape was instituted in 1854, he was one of eight members elected to represent the Western Division in the Legislative Council. As a member of the Legislative Council Joseph served on various select committees and also took a great interest in municipal affairs. He moved his residence to Cape Town, where he soon became an active and influential member of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce. His departure from Swellendam which by then had become a flourishing little town largely through his influence was of course a great loss,

The pride of the Barry fleet was the nimble 158-ton screw steam assisted sailing ship, the SS Kadie. She was custom designed to navigate 35 km up the Breede River to Malgas. At that time steam engines were the latest in technology. Built on the Clyde in Scotland by Archibald Denny of Dumbarton in 1859 especially for the firm Barry & Nephews she always attracted attention whenever she was sighted. She often rendered aid to ships in distress. Her furthest run was carrying a cargo of ostriches, bound for Australia. Unfortunately, after many successful voyages, perhaps as many as 240, she was lost on the treacherous sandbar at the mouth of the Breede River where she sank on the 17th December 1865. Fortunately, on this occasion no lives were lost.

Shortly before the loss of the SS Kadie Joseph died at Hope Mill in Cape Town aged 70 years. At that time Swellendam also experienced a major fire which laid waste to most of the town including the main Barry & Nephews stores. Coupled with drought and locusts the business was very severely affected and these unfortunate circumstances marked the start of the demise of the firm. Nephew John’s death followed soon thereafter and by 1880 the firm Barry & Nephews had ceased to exist.

But now back to Dirk Gysbert (Van Reenen) Barry the recipient of this medal.

Dirk was the 13th and youngest child of Joseph Barry and Johanna Marthina Van Reenen. Some 4 weeks after his birth on 29 November 1847 he was baptised on 26 December 1847. He would have grown up as a young boy in Swellendam in a prosperous Barry household. With his father’s business connection stretching to London and beyond it is perhaps not too surprising that he travelled to London as a young man. One might suspect that he was employed under John tutelage but interestingly it was there in England that he first became associated with the military. On 25 April 1868, when still only 20 years of age, having purchased a commission, he was appointed as an Ensign with the 11th Devonshire Regiment. Two years later he was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant on 14 September 1870 but retired from the service 5 years later on 6 October 1875 being repaid the value of his commission.

Soon after receiving his Lieutenant’s commission, he married Agnes Revett in Shirley, a village on the western outskirts of Southampton, on 19 November 1870. Their eldest son Harold Theodore Barry was born on 27 December 1872 but he died soon after their return to the Cape Colony on 25 May 1877. Dirk returned to his military activities during the Gaika and Gcaleka War of 1878 and served as a Captain with Pulleine’s Rangers. He was subsequently awarded the South African General Service medal. (Clasp 1877-8 - this medal unfortunately missing).

The birth of a further five daughters followed soon after his arrival back at the Cape and lastly a second son before Agnes’s untimely death in Rondebosch in Cape Town on 22 May 1887. The baptism document for his daughter Shirley on 5 March 1882 records his occupation as “Merchant”. Five years after his wife’s death Dirk married Alice Sophia Bourke (died June 1915) in Rondebosch on 16 September 1892 their marriage document now recording his occupation as “Clerk”. Their marriage produced a single further daughter named Phyllis Barry.

Details of his service with the Cape Colonial Service can be extracted from the various published annual Civil Service lists. Dirk first started working in the Cape Colonial Service on 6 November 1883 being appointed a registrar to the hon judge p of the eastern districts court and thereafter as registrar to the Hon. Mr Justice Buchanan in the Supreme Court on 1 July 1887. He was appointed a clerk to the Resident Magistrate in Albany in January 1892 and after a brief period of service in the agricultural department he was transferred to serve as Clerk to the Civil commissioner and Resident Magistrate at Bredasdorp in January 1895. He retired from that position in about 1908 the 1910 Civil Service list recording his pension as £104 3s 6d and his age as 62 years.

Dirk Gysbert Barry died in Mowbray on 26 March 1931 aged 83 years and 4 months.

RobM
Cape Town