John Vincent Barry

Who was John Vincent Barry?

Sir John Vincent William Barry KC was an Australian justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and an expert in criminology. Born the eldest child of William Edward Barry and Sarah Lena Jeanette, née Keene in Albury, New South Wales, Barry was educated in St Patrick's College, a small convent school in Goulburn. In 1921, he finished his tertiary education in the University of Melbourne. After being articled to the legal firm, Luke Murphy and Company, in 1921, Barry qualified as a lawyer in 1923, as a result of graduation from the articled clerks' course.

On 3 May 1926, Barry was admitted to the Victorian Bar, and began his practice as a barrister. During his time as a barrister, he was known for a jury practice and later, an appellate and High Court practice. After watching a murder trial, in which the accused was convicted and hanged, Barry became opposed to the use of the death penalty. In Mosman, Sydney, on 16 August 1930, Barry married Ethel May Pryor. A foundation vice-president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties from 1935, Barry became the foundation secretary of the Medico-Legal Society of Victoria.