After the matter was made public, many people claimed to have "known it all along". The British Army, seeking to suppress the story, sealed all records of Barry for the next 100 years. The historian Isobel Rae gained access to the army records in the 1950s, and concluded that the painter James Barry was indeed Barry's uncle. Barry was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, with a Portland stone headstone inscribed "Dr James Barry Inspector General of Hospitals". It was claimed by several sources that the manservant who always attended Barry returned to Jamaica, but his actual fate is unknown.