CAPTAIN W. JACKSON BARRY

Evening Star, Issue 10401, 24 August 1897, Page 1

CAPTAIN W. JACKSON BARRY

There was a very fair attendance at the Choral Hall last night—about 200 being present—on the. occasion of Captain W. Jackson Barry’s lecture, entitled ‘An Outline, Past and Present, of the Men of the Times.’ His Worship the Mayor (Mr H. Gourley) was to have presided, but wrote apologising for his unavoidable absence. The lecture was practically an outline of the captain’s own life, and in the course of the recital various personages, cf more or less notability, who are identified with the early history of the Australasian colonies were given passing mention. Captain Barry, at the outset, impressed upon his hearers the fact that they had before them an author and a colonist—not a Gladstone or a Beacbnsfield. He was of Scotch andTrish parentage, and it was to the mixture of those two strains of blood that he attributed the fact of his being so hale and' hearty a man at seventy-eight years of age that and keeping away from alcohol. According to - the captain’s interesting narrative he came out to Sydney in the Rover in 1829 when ten years of age At. that time there were only two Governors in Australasia the Governor of Van Dieman’s Land and the Governor of New South Wales, then the penal settlement and known as Botany Bay. After five years’ life in New South Wales he shipped in a whaler bound for the Three Kings,’ off New Zealand, The vessel met with bad weather, and was driven down towards Victoria. WhenlyingunderPortPhillip Headthe pioneer colonist ran away from the whaler and joined Batman’s party and became one of the founders of the town of Melbourne, and aided in building the first wattle and dab hut in that town. By 1835 he had acquired four acres of land in what is now Elizabeth street, bub just then he was “ collated” by the captain of the whaler from which he had run away and was taken back to the ship. In 1837 he got to New Zealand. At that time there was not a vestige of the white man in this colony. At the Bay of Islands he again ran away from his ship, was captured by the Maoris, and lived with them for some time. At this stage Captain Barry referred to his own whaling experiences. He had done a lot of whaling and had made a lot of money at it, but he had not ridden across Cook Strait on the back of a whale. That yarn was the invention of Tom Bracken, He carried on whaling until California “ broke out.” Ha went there, and in five years he and his mate made £30,000 at gold digging and cattle dealing, A bank “ bust,” however, and he lost everything. He then came back to Victoria, where he was cattle dealing until New Zealand “broke out” in 1861, when he left -Victoria with a shipment of horses. He came to Port Chalmers, aud Mr George Dodson lent him a hand to swim the horses ashore. He made £3,000 out of that shipment. At that time Farley was building the Arcade. He (the speaker) went to Wetherstones and Cromwell, and he was Mayor of Cromwell for four years.—(Applause.) He was the first white man to swim the Molyneux. The first boat on the river was made out of bullock hide. He repeated his ofttold story of how he dealt with the mover of the vote of censure on him when first Mayor of Cromwell, the recital eliciting hearty laughter. He was Mayor of Cromwellfor four years, and made a lot of money. He was. offered .by Mr Maoandrew about this time the position of .inspector of. attack ,at ft-naJary/Qf_£gOf) a yealv but he was doing better where be was'."' The “ pleuro,” however, came aiiioiig his cattle, and he was once more a ruined man. After referring to his having been sent Home by Sir George Grey to lecture on New Zealand the captain proceeded to refer to his five years’ recent residence amongst the Maoris in the King Country. ; He assured his hearers that there was no gold in it, although there were other minerals —coal, copper, antimony, tin, cinnabar—and some of the best timber iu the world, and when that country was opened up there would bo a great boom in New Zealand. In concluding his lecture he called attention to a letter he received from the Queen last week, in which Her Majesty’s private secretary thanked him for a copy of his book sent to her for her acceptance. The lecture was listened to very attentively, and the speaker was several times interrupted by applause and laughter.