Lieutenant General James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore was born in 1667, the son of Richard Barry, 2nd Earl of Barrymore and Dorothy Ferrar. His first wife was Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of Charles Boyle, 2nd Baron Clifford of Lanesborough and Lady Jane Seymour; his second wife was Elizabeth Savage (see lot 1), daughter of Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers and Penelope Downes. They were married in June of 1706, and Elizabeth became heiress to the estate at Marbury, Cheshire in 1712 upon the death of her father (see lot 13). Elizabeth died in childbirth in c.1713/14, leaving Marbury with the Barry family. James Barry's third wife was Lady Anne Chichester, daughter of Major General Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall and Lady Catherine Forbes, whom he married on 12 July 1716.

Lt-Gen James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 31 December 1688 in the service of the army of William of Orange. He succeeded as 4th Earl of Barrymore in 1699. A Colonel of the 13th Foot between 1702 and 1715, he commanded the regiment under Lord Galway in Spain. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in 1707, he fought in the Battle of Almanza. Upon returning from Spain, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Stockbridge, and was arrested on suspicion of treason, although never charged. In 1710 he was invested as Privy Counsellor, Ireland, in 1713 and later served as Member of Parliament for Wigan between 1734 and 1747. He died on 5 January 1747.

A group portrait of Lt. Gen. James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, with Thomas Lister of Gisborne Park, Clitheroe, and Richard Shuttleworth of Forcett, Yorkshire, was painted by Arthur Devis, circa 1739-40.