William Jackson Barry (1819 – 23 April 1907) was a New Zealand adventurer and writer. He was born in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, England on 1819,[1] and between 1866 and 1868 was Mayor of Cromwell.[2]
William Jackson Barry | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Captain William Jackson Barry taken in 1870s by unknown photographer. | |
| Born | 1819  |
| Died | 23 April 1907 (aged 87–88) |
In 1883, Barry bought a whale skeleton that had beached itself on the sands in Nelson. Barry prepared and exhibited the skeleton at a Nelson store, and then on tour, before arriving in Dunedin. The Otago Daily Times reported that Barry opened the whale up to public inspection in a warehouse in St Andrews Street, even going so far as to hold a dinner party in its jaws. By August 1883, Barry had sold the fin whale to Otago Museum, where it is still on display.[3][4]
Barry wrote a fantastical autobiography in 1878, Up and Down: Or, Fifty Years' Colonial Experiences in Australia, California, New Zealand, India, China, and the South Pacific; Being the Life History of Capt. W. J. Barry. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF, 1878, with portrait of author, and other illustrations."[5]
References
edit- ^ Cooper, Ronda. "William Jackson Barry". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "A Quaint Character of Early Otago — Captain William Jackson Barry | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ Crane, Rosi (2015). "Whale Tales". He Taonga, He Kōrero: The Lives of Colonial Objects. Dunedin, Otago: Otago University Press.
- ^ "Editorial". Otago Daily Times. 10 July 1883.
- ^ Barry, William Jackson (1879). Up and Down: Or, Fifty Years' Colonial Experiences in Australia, California, New Zealand, India, China, and the South Pacific; Being the Life History of Capt. W. J. Barry. Fleet Street, London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.
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