Born in South Africa and educated at Dulwich College in London, Ian Barry was typical of the transient amateurs with cosmopolitan backgrounds who played for Glamorgan during their days as a Minor County.
He was the second son of John Daniel Barry, who lived in Rondesbosch in Cape Town and was a member of the hugely successful Barry and Nephews company, who were wine merchants and traders, besides owning a number of sailing vessels plus the famous RivertonStud where horses were breed for racing and service with the British Army.
Sadly, John died in May 1890 when Ian was fourteen so he moved with his Scottish-born mother Eliza to live in the London area. After leaving Dulwich College, Ian trained as a civil engineer and secured a position in the thriving Docks at Cardiff and, after some impressive performances in club cricket for Cardiff, including an innings of 97 against Llanelli in late May, he was drafted into the Glamorgan team for the Minor County Championship match against Wiltshire at Swansea during the first week of June 1900.
He had opened the batting whilst at Dulwich so it was no surprise that Ian made an unbeaten 24 in what proved to be his one and only innings for the Welsh county. Local newspapers reported that Ian “knocked the bowling all over the field to the evident delight of the large crowd.” He moved away from South Wales shortly afterwards, and served as a Royal Marine Engineer.
On 29 March 1913 he married Phyllis Bristed, the daughter of Richard Bristed, a fellow engineer. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Phyllis had moved to live in Buxton, Derbyshire before getting married to Ian in Santiago, Chile. The couple moved back to the UK after the Great War and settled in the Colchester area. Indeed, they are recorded in the 1939 National Register as living in the village of Kirby Cross, to the west of Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze, along with Phyllis’s parents with her father having risen to the rank of Major. They also had a son, Claude and a daughter Madeleine.
BARRY, Ian
Born – Cape Town, South Africa, 16 September, 1875.
Died – Colchester, 3 October, 1944.
Batting and Fielding Record
| M | I | NO | RUNS | AV | 100 | 50 | CT | ST | |
| Minor Championship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 24 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
Career-best performance
Minor County Championship – 24* v Wiltshire at St. Helen’s, Swansea, 1900.