John Barry was born in Tiverton in 1775. He started off life as a farmer’servant, then joined the North Devon Militia, and finally, the Third Regiment of the Line-the Buffs, in 1809.
He fought in many battles during the Peninsular War against Napoleon, including Oporto (1809), Talavera (1809), Busacoa (1810), Albuera (1811, where the British were outnumbered and defeated by the French in a hard-fought battle), Almarez (1812, Burgos (1813), and Vittoria (1813), . Finally, with Napoleon exiled in Elba, he was sent off to fight in the !812 war against the USA, where he was involved in the attack on the city of Plattsburgh. During these campaigns, he sustained injuries to his head and face.. He arrived back in France in 1815, to find the battle of Waterloo had been fought and won by the Allies, and he became part of the occupying force in Paris.
He was discharged in 1816. He was given a medal, but because he had only signed on for seven years, he had no pension, and went to live in Northam., where he worked as a labourer, until, in his eighty-fourth year, he finally ended up in the Bideford Workhouse, where even at that advanced age, he ws employed by the parish, breaking stones on the highway, walking four miles twice a day to and from his place of work at Appledore.
Eventually an Army General came to visit him, and asked him if he would still fight for his country. Without hesitation, he said yes , but complained that nowadays he was rather stiff in the arms. The general gave him a half-crown, and asked him to drink the General’s health, humouring John by saying that if he was to ride down Pall Mall on a charger with a suitable uniform on, he could easily have been mistaken for the Duke of Wellington himself.
In his last years, he became the porter at the Union Workhouse. When not doing his portering duties, he could be found in his office, reading his Bible.
Eventually, Queen Victoria got to hear of her loyal subject, and gave him a gift of £5 ‘to procure any little comfort for the old soldier, John Barry.’ As a result, he took a glass of port wine at 11 oclock every night, with which to drink the health and long life of Her Majesty..
He died in the Workhouse in 1875, at the age of 101.
Chris Trigger
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