Bernard Flaherty

Barney Williams
From the New York Public Library Digital Gallery
Born	Bernard O’Flaherty (1824-08-30)August 30, 1824 Cork, Ireland
Died	April 25, 1876(1876-04-25) (aged 51) New York City
Occupation	Actor-Comedian, Irish Clog Dancer
Spouse(s)	Maria Pray

Barney Williams (August 20, 1824 – April 25, 1876) was an Irish-American actor-comedian popular during the mid decades of the 19th century. He was probably best remembered by audiences of the day for playing Ragged Pat in J. A. Amherst's drama Ireland as it is and the title role in Samuel Lover's comic opera Rory O'More. Throughout the greater part of his career he was billed along with his wife, the former Maria Pray, as Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams.

When Benjamin H. Day founded the New York Sun in 1833, he employed Williams as his first, and for a time, only newsboy.

Bernard O'Flaherty was born in 1824 at Cork, Ireland, to Michael and Mary O’Flaherty. In 1831 his family immigrated to America where his father would become a New York City policeman. As a boy Williams ran errands, sold newspapers, worked at a printer’s office and at some point began performing bit parts at New York’s Franklin Theatre. On one night in 1836 he was given the opportunity to play a speaking rôle in The Ice Witch that came available after actor Alonzo Williams suddenly fell ill. As a result of his performance, Williams became a regular cast member of the theatre’s troupe performing under the stage name Barney Williams.

Barney’s first big hit (c. 1840) was as Pat Rooney in The Omnibus (Williams: p. 69). This play was written by his mentor Tyrone Powers probably around 1833. Maria made her stage debut at the Chatham Theatre – as a member of the corps de ballet, in the first production of a burlesque entitled "New York Assurance", which was a travesty on "London Assurance". See Clapp: p. 386; and Players: p. 387. Barney is also credited as introducing Irish clog dancing to America.

In 1843 Barney played the role of Jerry Murphy in Bumpology at the Chatham theatre in New York. In these days Williams played in several roles in the Tyrone Powers repertory, including Paddy O’Rafferty in Born to Good Luck, and Terry O’Rourke in The Irish Tutor. In 1844, Barney was a member of a company owned by P.T. Barnum called a "Moral Lecture Room". By 1845, at age twenty-two, Williams was manager of Vauxhall Garden, NY, located at LaFayette Street in New York. This area later became known as The Bowery.

For several seasons Williams was a popular blackface comedian touring in minstrel shows [Kentucky Minstrels] before embarking in 1846 on a long career as an Irish comedian. On November 24, 1849, Williams married actress Maria Pray (1828–1911), the widow of actor Charles Mestayer who died the previous year. She was the daughter of William Pray, an actor who perished in a New York theatre fire, and a sister of Malvina Florence, actress wife of the well-known actor William J. Florence.