Redmond Barry

Sir Redmond Barry, (7 June 181323 November 1880), was a colonial judge in Victoria, Australia of Anglo-Irish origins. Barry was the inaugural Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, serving from 1853 until his death in 1880. He is arguably best known for having sentenced Ned Kelly to death. Early life Barry was the third son of Major-General Henry Green Barry, of 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. 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. In 1832, he entered Trinity College Dublin, graduated in 1835 with the usual Bachelor of Arts degree, and was called to the bar in Dublin in 1838.