View source for Redmond Barry

{{Short description|Australian judge (1813–1880)}}
{{other uses|Redmond Barry (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Sir]]
| name                = Redmond Barry
| honorific_suffix    = [[Order of St Michael and St George|KCMG]], [[King's Counsel|QC]]
| order               = 1st
| office              = Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
| term_start          = 1853
| term_end            = 1880
| predecessor         = 
| successor           = 
| birth_name          = 
| birth_date          = 7 June 1813
| birth_place         = [[Kilworth]], [[History of Ireland (1801–1923)|Ireland]]
| death_date          = 23 November 1880 (aged 67)
| death_place         = [[Melbourne]], Colony of Victoria
| nationality         = 
| citizenship         = 
| education           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = Chancellor, judge
| years_active        = 
| employer            = 
| organization        = 
| known_for           = 
| net_worth           = <!-- Net worth should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| spouse              = 
| awards              = 
| website             = 
| image               = Redmond Barry.jpg
}}
{{Eureka Rebellion sidebar}}

'''Sir Redmond Barry''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|KCMG|QC}} (7 June 1813{{spaced ndash}}23 November 1880), was an Irish-born judge in the Australian colony of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. A major figure in the early civic life of [[Melbourne]], Barry was instrumental in founding several key institutions in the city, including the [[University of Melbourne]] and [[State Library Victoria]], outside of which a statue of him stands. He is also well known for presiding over the trial of the [[Eureka Stockade|Eureka rebels]], as well as having sentenced the [[bushranger]] and outlaw [[Ned Kelly]] to death.<ref name=adb>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Ryan|title=Barry, Sir Redmond (1813–1880)|work=[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]|publisher=National Centre of Biography, [[Australian National University]]|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barry-sir-redmond-2946/text4271|date=1969|access-date=25 February 2015 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Barry was the third son of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] Henry Green Barry,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calendar of Prisoners of the High Sheriff of County Cork at Summer Assizes |url=https://iar.ie/archive/calendar-prisoners-high-sheriff-county-cork-summer-assizes/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=Irish Archives Resource |language=en-US}}</ref> of [[Ballyclough House|Ballyclogh]] near [[Kilworth]], [[County Cork]], Ireland, and his wife Phoebe Drought, daughter of John Armstrong Drought and Letita Head. Barry had five brothers and six sisters and was educated at a military school, [[Hall Place]], near Bexley, [[Kent]].<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60446344
 |title=HIS HONOR SIR REDMOND BARRY, KT., M.A., LL.D., &c.
 |newspaper=[[Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers]]
 |location=Melbourne
 |date=29 February 1872
|accessdate=9 February 2012
|page=63 |publisher=National Library of Australia
}}</ref>

Returning to Ireland in 1829, he was unable to obtain a military commission so began his own further education. Following his own classics programme, translating classical authors into English verse, he furthered his scholarly pursuits by reading a variety of old and new writers.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In 1832, he entered [[Trinity College Dublin]],<ref>"[[Alumni Dublinenses]]: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College in the University of Dublin]] (1593–1860)" [[George Dames Burtchaell]]/[[Thomas Ulick Sadleir]] p45: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935.</ref> graduated in 1835 with the usual Bachelor of Arts degree, and was [[called to the bar]] in Dublin in 1838.<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5964187
 |title=SIR REDMOND BARRY, K.C.M.G., LL.D.
 |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]
 |location=Melbourne
 |date=24 November 1880
|accessdate=8 February 2012
|page=5
 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name=EB>{{EB1911|wstitle=Barry, Sir Redmond}}</ref>

After his father's death, Barry sailed for [[Sydney]], capital of the British [[History of New South Wales|Colony of New South Wales]].
[[File:Ballyclough, Kilworth, Residence of J. R. Bury-Barry, J.P.jpg|thumb|[[Ballyclough House]], Kilworth. Birthplace of Redmond Barry]]

==Life and work in Australia==
Barry arrived in New South Wales in April 1837 and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar.<ref name="Galbally">[[Ann Galbally|Galbally, Ann]], ''Redmond Barry: An Anglo-Irish Australian'' (Carlton, Vic., Melbourne University Press, 1995)</ref> After two years in Sydney, Barry moved to Melbourne, a city with which he was ever afterwards closely identified, arriving at the new [[Port Phillip]] Settlement on 13 November 1839.<ref name=Galbally/>

In 1841, Barry served as the defence lawyer for [[Tunnerminnerwait]] and [[Maulboyheenner]], two Indigenous rebels on trial for murder. Barry questioned the legal basis of British authority over Aborigines who were not citizens and claimed that the evidence was dubious and circumstantial. Despite his best efforts, the two men were found guilty and subsequently hanged on 20 January 1842, becoming [[List of people legally executed in Victoria|the first people in Victoria to be legally executed]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/call-for-memorial-for-first-men-hanged-in-melbourne-20120607-1zyy2.html|title=Call for memorial for first men hanged in Melbourne|first=Miki|last=Perkins|date=7 June 2012|website=The Age}}</ref>

After practising his profession for some years, he became commissioner of the Court of Requests, and after the creation in 1851 of the colony of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], out of the Port Phillip district of New South Wales, he became the first [[Solicitor-General of Victoria]], with a seat in both the Legislative and Executive Councils.<ref name=EB/> In 1852, he was appointed a judge of the [[Supreme Court of Victoria]]. Later he also served as acting Chief Justice and Administrator of the government.
[[File:Redmond Barry, Chancellor 1853-1880.jpg|thumb|Sir Redmond Barry]]
Barry was noted for his service to the community, and he convinced the state government to spend money on public works, particularly on education. He was instrumental in the foundation of the [[Royal Melbourne Hospital]] (1848), the [[University of Melbourne]] (1853), and the [[State Library of Victoria]] (1854).<ref name=EB/> He served as the first [[Chancellor (education)|chancellor]] of the university until his death and was also president of the trustees of the State Library. He was the first President of the [https://federation.edu.au/about-us/our-university/history/geoffrey-blainey-research-centre/buildings-and-sites/former-ballarat-court-1st-school-of-mines Ballarat School of Mines] (1870), which later became [[Ballarat University]] and is now [[Federation University Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://victoriancollections.net.au/media/collectors/4f729f6797f83e0308601707/items/5554383d2162f12210077361/5554386f2162f122100776d2/original.pdf|title=The School of Mines and Industries Ballarat – A guide to heritage buildings at the SMB campus in Lydiard Street South, Ballarat|publisher=The University of Ballarat|access-date=30 June 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827183514/https://victoriancollections.net.au/media/collectors/4f729f6797f83e0308601707/items/5554383d2162f12210077361/5554386f2162f122100776d2/original.pdf|archivedate=27 August 2016}}</ref>

Barry was the judge in the [[Eureka Stockade]] treason trials in the Supreme Court in 1855. The thirteen miners were all acquitted.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-02-28 |title=He played a significant part in Victorian history, but it's taken 164 years for John Joseph's grave to be marked |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-28/john-joseph-recognised-168-years-after-eureka-stockade/102026486 |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In 1857, Barry conducted the inquest into the murder of Inspector-General [[John Giles Price]], who was beaten to death by a group of at least 15 convicts during an inspection of the prison quarries in [[Williamstown, Victoria]]. Seven of the convicts involved in the attack on Price were found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. The seven men were executed at [[Melbourne Gaol]] within a three-day period from 28 to 30 April.<ref>Barry, John Vincent; ''[https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10074502 The Life and Death of John Price: A Study of the Exercise of Naked Power]''; Melbourne University Press; 1964.</ref>

He chaired the committee for the [[Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition]] in Melbourne,<ref name="argos8page">{{cite news|title=Account of the Victorian Exhibition of 1875, an 8 page supplement in The Argus|publication-date=3 September 1875}}</ref> and represented Victoria at the [[International Exhibition (1862)|London International Exhibition]] of 1862 and at the [[Centennial Exposition|Philadelphia Exhibition]] of 1876.<ref name=EB/> He was made a [[knight bachelor]] in 1860, and was created a [[Knight Commander]] of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG) in 1877.<ref name=EB/>

===Kelly cases===
In October 1878, at Beechworth court, Barry presided over a case in which Mrs Ellen Kelly (King) and two men were accused of [[aiding and abetting]] the [[attempted murder]] of a [[Victoria Police]] [[constable]] named Alexander Fitzpatrick. After sentencing Mrs Kelly to three years with hard labour, Barry said, "if your son [[Ned Kelly|Ned]] were here I would make an example of him for the whole of Australia – I would give him fifteen years".{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In 1880, Barry presided at the final trial of [[Ned Kelly]], who was tried and convicted of murdering three other Victoria Police constables. The trial and sentencing have since been the subject of many articles and books by lawyers and historians. When he sentenced Kelly to [[Hanging|death by hanging]], Barry uttered the customary words "May God have mercy on your soul". According to the transcripts, Kelly replied "I will go a little further than that, and say I will see you there when I go." On 23 November 1880, only twelve days after Kelly's execution, Barry died from what the doctors described as "congestion of the lungs and a carbuncle in the neck".{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

===Contribution to libraries===
[[File:State Library Victoria reading room.jpg|thumb|150px|The Redmond Barry Reading Room in the State Library of Victoria]]
Barry laid the foundations of the Supreme Court Library (Melbourne) and was the prime mover establishing the [[Melbourne Public Library]]. As a legislator he promoted the Parliamentary Library. He organised the Governor, Sir [[Charles Hotham]], to lay the foundation stones of [[University of Melbourne]], Melbourne Public Library and Sunbury Industrial School [later Sunbury Lunatic Asylum] in 1854 – all on the same day.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60446344 "HIS HONOR SIR REDMOND BARRY, KT., M.A., LL.D., &c."], ''Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers'' (Melbourne) (National Library of Australia): p. 63. 29 February 1872. Retrieved 9 February 2012.</ref>
 
Sir Redmond Barry virtually single-handedly planned the Melbourne Public Library building and its contents. He had a 'hands-on' approach personally writing book selection and acquisition procedures – even helping to shelve books for the Library's 1856 opening. In 1862 and 1877–1878, he went to Europe, England and America, purchasing books and pictures for University, Law and Public Libraries and Art Gallery. As Board of Trustees Chairman he was responsible for starting travelling libraries and supporting extended library hours. In September 1870, he "acquired" [[Marcus Clarke]] as Public Library Trustees clerk (later secretary), who until his death in 1881 worked as sub-librarian. Historian Geoffrey Blainey has said: "There can be fewer men with greater concern for and a greater and better vision for the young colonial society in which Redmond Barry made his life".<ref>Blainey, Geoffrey, ''A Centenary History of the University of Melbourne''. Carlton, Vic.; Melbourne University Press; 1957.</ref>

Books and reading were intrinsic to Barry's own educational and intellectual development, so he wanted these advantages for other people. The reason for his support of the Melbourne Public Library, the Law Library and his support of Mechanic Institutes was free access to libraries for all and not just a select few.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Redmond_Barry_Grave,_Melb_Gen_cemetery.jpg|thumb|225px|Barry's grave, with plaque acknowledging Louisa Barrow]]
Barry never married, but had four children with Louisa Barrow, all of whom he acknowledged and supported.<ref name=adb/>

In August 1841, he was involved in a duel with pastoralist [[Peter Snodgrass]], whose pistol discharged prematurely. Barry then discharged his own pistol harmlessly into the air.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Duels in Melbourne|url=https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/duels-in-melbourne/|access-date=15 March 2021|website=blogs.slv.vic.gov.au|date=16 August 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Death==
''[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]'' reported that Barry had been suffering from diabetes for about ten years, but on his return from his trip to Europe and America it was apparent that the disease had affected his system. On Monday, 15 November, he was first troubled with a carbuncle on his neck.

Sir Redmond was counselled by his medical adviser to at once rest from duty, but he was reluctant to do so, and continued to attend the court until he was compelled to take rest. He was constantly attended by Dr Gunst, who, however, could scarcely impress his patient with a sense of the very serious nature of his disease, which he regarded somewhat lightly. He became restless, and it was deemed advisable to place him under the constant care of a nurse. Despite the precautions, Barry caught cold through exposure, and congestion of the left lung set in. Dr Gunst held a consultation with Dr Teague, and pronounced the case hopeless. The left lung had become greatly congested, and this, together with the exhaustion and wasting away of the system resulting from the previous disease, proved fatal.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5964187 |title=SIR REDMOND BARRY, K.C.M.G., LL.D. |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=24 November 1880 |accessdate=9 February 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Barry was a book collector and left a substantial library that was auctioned after his death.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stitz |first1=Charles |title=The story of "Australian book collectors" |journal=Biblionews |date=June 2011 |issue=370 |page=56}}</ref>

==Memorials and legacy==
[[File:Redmond Barry Melbourne.jpg|thumb|Statue of Barry in the forecourt of [[State Library Victoria]]]]
The [[State Library of Victoria]] has named a reading room after Sir Redmond Barry, who was the first chair of the Board of Trustees of the [[Melbourne Public Library]]. A statue of Barry was installed in front of the library in 1887.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

The [[University of Melbourne]], of which he was the first [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]], has a Redmond Barry building named for him. A plaque marking the location of Sir Redmond Barry's residence is located near the corner of Josephine Avenue and High Street Road in [[Mount Waverley]].{{cn|date=October 2023}} 

The University of Melbourne also established the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, a title awarded to multiple professors within the university who display outstanding research and leadership.<ref>{{cite web|title=Redmond Barry Professors |url=https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/distinguished-professors|website=The University of Melbourne|accessdate=27 January 2018}}</ref>

The [[Australian Library and Information Association]]'s highest honour that can be bestowed on an individual not eligible for membership of the association is the Redmond Barry Award<ref>[https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/awards-and-grants/320/redmond-barry-award Redmond Barry Award]</ref> awarded in recognition of outstanding service to or promotion of a library and information service or libraries and information services, or to the theory or practice of library and information science, or an associated field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/awards-and-grants/320/redmond-barry-award|title=Redmond Barry Award |website= Australian Library and Information Association}}</ref>

===Portrayals in film===
Barry has appeared as a character in three dramatisations of the [[Ned Kelly]] story: 
*He appears in [[Tony Richardson|Tony Richardson's]] [[Ned Kelly (1970 film)|1970 biopic]] about the bushranger, played by acting veteran [[Frank Thring]].<ref name="Corfield, Justin 2003 pg 158">Corfield, Justin ''The Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia'' (2003); [[Hachette Book Group|Lothian Books]]; p. 158.</ref> 
*He has a prominent role in the 1977 television drama ''[[Trial of Ned Kelly|The Trial of Ned Kelly]]'', where he was played by [[John Frawley (actor)|John Frawley]].<ref name="Corfield, Justin 2003 pg 158"/> 
* He appeared in the 1980 miniseries ''[[The Last Outlaw (miniseries)|The Last Outlaw]]'', played by [[David Clendinning]].<ref>Corfield, Justin ''The Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia'' (2003); [[Hachette Book Group|Lothian Books]]; p. 160.</ref> 

Barry is also a minor character in [[Philippe Mora|Philippe Mora's]] [[Bushranger#Legacy|bushranging biopic]] ''[[Mad Dog Morgan]]'', where he is played by [[Peter Collingwood]].{{cn|date=October 2023}}

==Works==
* [[s:Address on the opening of the Free Public Library of Ballarat East, on Friday, 1st. January, 1869|Address on the opening of the Free Public Library of Ballarat East, on Friday, 1st. January 1869]]

==See also==
* [[Judiciary of Australia]]
* [[List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
*Blainey, Geoffrey [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8500392 ''A Centenary History of the University of Melbourne.''] Carlton, Vic.; Melbourne University Press; 1957
*Corfield, Justin [https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12881327 ''The Ned Kelly Encyclopaedia'']; Lothian Books; 2003
*Cowan, (Sir) Zelman The Redmond Barry Centenary Oration. Delivered at Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne; [Melbourne]; Royal Historical Society of Victoria; [1980]
*Galbally, Ann [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/30449868 ''Redmond Barry: An Anglo-Irish Australian.''] Carlton, Vic.; Melbourne University Press; 1995
*Jones, David J. [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/17751097 ''The Australian Librarian's Manual: Volume 3: Glossary.''] Sydney, Library Association of Australia 1985
*Kenneally, J. J. [http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/11301910 ''The Inner History of the Kelly Gang and their pursuers''], (first printed 1929); (quote above from 1969 (8th) edition p.&nbsp;188)
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Sir Redmond|Last=Barry|shortlink=0-dict-biogBa.html#barry3}}
* Ryan, Peter (1980). ''Redmond Barry: A Colonial Life 1813–1880'' (Revised edition). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. {{ISBN|0522842143}}. Small pamphlet.

==Further reading==
* [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P003093b.htm ''Bright Sparcs'']
* [http://glenrowan1880.com/Trial.htm ''Trial of Ned Kelly'']
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ausgen/Docs/NEDKELLY.doc ''Ned Kelly: An Overview'']{{dead link|date=February 2024|bot=medic}}

==External links==
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
*{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au Supreme Court of Victoria Website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070108174648/http://whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/People/Barry.ASP Redmond Barry's Gravesite]
* Peter Ryan, '[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barry-sir-redmond-2946 Barry, Sir Redmond (1813–1880)]', ''[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]'', Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp 108–111.
* [https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/awards-and-grants/320/redmond-barry-award Redmond Barry Award, Australian Library and Information Association]
* [https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20902706/ballyclogh-house-ballyclogh-county-cork Ballyclough/Ballyclogh House]

{{Ned Kelly}}
{{Authority control}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par | au-vic-lc}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title = Nominated Member &<br>[[Solicitor-General of Victoria (Australia)|Solicitor-General]] | years = July 1851 – June 1852 }}
{{s-aft | after= [[Edward Williams (Victorian judge)|Edward Williams]] }}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title = [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of the [[University of Melbourne]] | years = 1853{{spaced endash}}1880 }}
{{s-aft|after= [[Anthony Brownless|Sir Anthony Brownless]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{People of the Eureka Rebellion}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Redmond}}
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria]]
[[Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Australian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Melbourne]]
[[Category:1813 births]]
[[Category:1880 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Council]]
[[Category:Solicitors-general of Victoria]]
[[Category:Irish-Australian culture]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to colonial Australia]]
[[Category:Australian people of Anglo-Irish descent]]
[[Category:Colony of Victoria judges]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:Settlers of Melbourne]]
[[Category:Australian duellists]]
[[Category:Australian book and manuscript collectors]]
[[Category:Lawyers from County Cork]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:People of the Eureka Rebellion]]