Lording Barry facts for kids

Lording Barry (born in 1580, died in 1629) was an English writer who lived in the 1600s. He was known for writing plays and also had some exciting adventures at sea.

Barry's Life and Adventures

Lording Barry was the son of Nicholas Barry, a fish seller in London. When his father passed away in 1607, Lording received some money. He used this money to invest in a theatre group called the King's Revels Children. This group performed plays at the Whitefriars Theatre.

Barry faced some financial challenges because of his theatre projects. He later traveled to Ireland and became involved in sea voyages. In 1610, he was part of a legal case in Cork about his sea adventures, but he was found not guilty.

Around 1615, Barry received a special permission to join Sir Walter Raleigh on a journey to Guiana in 1617. This trip, however, did not go as planned. Later in his life, Barry owned part of a ship called the Edward of London. In 1627, this ship was given a special permission called a letter of marque. This allowed the ship to capture enemy ships during wartime.

Many of Barry's relatives helped settle the early English colonies in Virginia. One notable relative was his great-nephew, Colonel Edmund Scarborough II (1617–1671). Edmund followed in the footsteps of his father, Edmund Scarborough I, and his mother Hannah, who was Barry's niece. Barry also left money in his will to another great-nephew, Charles Scarborough. Charles was Edmund's brother and became a doctor for the English royal family in 1660. He was even knighted by King Charles II in 1669.

Barry's Plays

Lording Barry is known for writing a comedy play called Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks (1608). This play was later included in famous collections of old plays. For a long time, people thought another writer named Philip Massinger had written it. The historian Anthony Wood mentioned that the play was performed by the King's Revels Children before 1611.

There is only one known record of this play being performed much later, between 1719 and 1723, at the Drury Lane theatre. A list of the actors for that performance included well-known names like Robert Wilks and Theophilus Cibber.

There is also evidence that Barry wrote or helped write another comedy play called The Family of Love (1608). This play was once thought to be written by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker.