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History
Barry & Nephews Swellendam and Montagu Bank
As a young man of 21 years Joseph Barry was commissioned by the London Wine House, Barry & Wilkinson, to act as their agent for the export of wines from the Cape in 1817. Soon after arriving in Cape Town he was granted permission to remain and in 1819 he returned to make the Cape his home.
Joseph Barry’s capacity for hard work, an engaging personality and his reputation as a man of many scruples enabled him to build a successful business empire. Joseph Barry won a tender in 1822 to supply the drought stricken Overberg. Circumventing the long hazardous overland journey he chartered a ship, the Duke of Gloucester, to transport a load of rice, grain and merchandise, of which the Overberg was in desperate need, from Cape Town to Port Beaufort. This venture made him a handsome profit and he realised that there was a genuine need for regular trade between Cape Town and the Overberg and the Barry Trading Co flourished. Coupled with several misfortunes including the sinking of his ship the Singapore and the long wait to be paid by the government for goods transported to the Settlers at Albany, he was declared bankrupt in 1827. Working as a building contractor, post contractor and holder, deputy sheriff and auctioneer he managed to pay off his debts and by 1830 his fortunes had changed. This entrepreneur persuaded his nephews, Thomas and later John, to assist with the rapid expanse of the business and the firm Barry & Nephews was founded on 1st June 1834. Joseph Barry and his nephews all married into the same family! Their wives were all granddaughters of old Cape Dutch aristocrats, Dirk Grysbert van Reenen who was the grandson of Graaf Jacob von Rhenen of Prussia.
The firm Barry & Nephews traded by ship all along the East coast from Cape Town to Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) and from Port Beaufort up the Breede River to Malgas. From here it was a short ox wagon journey to the Barry trading store in Swellendam and over the Tradouw pass to Barrydale. This developed farming in the Overberg, as the overland route by ox-wagon was a hazardous, long and expensive journey discouraging the farmers from trading with Cape Town. By the 1840s Barry & Nephews were loading woollen cloth direct for London at Port Beaufort. They encouraged the farmers to improve the quality of their vines and wool. During the 1950s they were presented with a cup for promoting the growth and exportation of wool. In 1865 they took a Silver Medal at the Paarl Agricultural Show for the best spirits of wine.
As more stores were opened in the Overberg more managers were needed to oversee the expansion and James Charles Barry (b. 6-5-1819 d. 7-6-1881 married to Elizabeth Tilson) the son of Joseph Barry’s brother James (b. 26-6-1789 in Hitchin d. 7-3-1842) and his wife Sarah Breeds also came out to South Africa to join the firm. The nephews Thomas and John’s sister, Joseph Barry's niece, Mary Anne, married diplomat, George Cuthbert Pratt, and lived in Belgium. Both her sons, Francis Barry & Leonard George, also came out to South Africa to work in the firm.
Sailing the Cape of Storms was not without it’s own hazards. In 1848 the 149 ton Cape Coastal schooner, Barry I, wrecked in a South Easter off Stuys Bay. Fortunately no lives were lost. In 1857, Barry II, set out on a voyage to London from Port Beaufort with a cargo of brandy, wool, barley, aloes and animal skins. She wrecked whilst crossing the sandbar and tragically 3 lives were lost.
Barry & Nephews Counting Houses
By the end of the 1830s, they had significantly opened up trade opportunities for Overberg farmers in the Cape Colony. However, the large sums of money they dealt with could not be kept in all the rural towns they traded with. “Counting Houses” were thus constructed by the firm across the Overberg and in Cape Town. Here they kept a certain amount of ready cash, but of great historical and economic importance are the five-pound Barry & Nephews ‘bank’ notes to facilitate trade. These were printed on watermarked paper in London.
John Barry Director of the Montagu Bank
John Barry who at the time was in charge of the London branch persuaded one of the Imperial banks to extend itself to the Cape Colony. As one of its directors he assisted in opening the first Imperial London and South Africa Bank in the Cape in 1860. Joseph’s sons, Sir Jacob Dirk Barry (married to Prime Minister John X Merriman’s sister, Charlotte) and Thomas Daniel Barry were listed throughout as Cape shareholders in it. This bank was eventually absorbed by Standard Bank of SA.
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