(370) Barclay of Ury House

Barclay of Ury

The Barclays have been established in Scotland from a very early date, though their origins are disputed: a summary of the conflicting views can be found on Wikipedia. One Alexander de Berkeley was granted the estate of Mathers on the Kincardineshire coast  in 1351, and his descendants continued to hold that estate down to the time of David Barclay (1580-1660), with whom the genealogy below begins. Having acted as surety for his father-in-law, David Barclay was plunged into debt and was obliged to sell more and more of his patrimony between 1611 and 1632. His third son, David Barclay (1610-86) became a soldier of fortune on the Continent, fighting for Protestant causes in the Swedish and later Prussian armies in the Thirty Years War. He seems to have demonstrated considerable military prowess and was well rewarded by his employers, so that when he was recalled by his family in 1638 because of the increasingly troubled situation in Scotland, he may have harboured the hope of recovering possession of Mathers. The property had, however, been much divided by his father's dispersal and subsequent re-sales, and the troubled years of the Civil War meant that he was occupied with military affairs at home. In 1647-48, however, he seized the opportunity to buy the Ury (or Urie) estate not far from his ancestral home, where the original fortified house had been burnt by Royalist troops in 1645. Here he was eventually successful in putting down new roots, building a new house in 1670 and apparently improving it a few years later. 

In the 1660s, David Barclay and his son, Robert Barclay (1648-90) embraced Quaker beliefs, and Robert emerged in the 1670s as one of the leaders of the Society of Friends and one of its most active and effective literary advocates. Although both he and his father experienced periods of imprisonment for their faith, Robert managed to secure the effective intercession of a number of powerful people on their behalf. He seems to have had the knack of making friends even with those who did not share his religious views, and his unlikely friendship with James, Duke of York (later James II) no doubt helped to shape the Duke's views on religious toleration.

Robert died aged just forty-two, and was succeded at Ury by his eldest son, Robert Barclay (1672-1747), while his second son, David Barclay (1682-1769) went to London to seek his fortune in about 1698, and founded the great banking and brewing families which I have written about in my previous posts. The Quaker faith was now an established part of the family's identity and both Robert and David adhered to it, without achieving the national profile and reputation of their father. It remained the faith of their descendants well into the 19th century and in some cases into the 20th century. In later life, Robert (1672-1747), who stayed in Scotland and lived quietly at Ury, became increasingly interested in the history of his own family, and wrote a book on the subject which was published in 1740. At his death he was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Barclay (1699-1760), who was noted more for his size and physical strength than for anything else. Although he was brought up to assist in the management of the Ury estate, however, he was not much interested in agriculture, and his son, yet another Robert Barclay (1732-97) inherited a badly run-down property. Fortunately,  this Robert, was an energetic and enlightened agricultural improver, and quickly turned the situation round. Through his second marriage in 1776 he acquired control (at least until they divorced in 1793) of his wife's family Allardice Castle estate and he added her surname to his in recognition of this. He was also able to contemplate additions to Ury House, although these were never carried out, perhaps because his marriage broke down. When he died in 1797 the estate passed to his son, Robert Barclay-Allardice (1779-1854), who preferred to live at a rented property in England, and Ury was sold after his death to Alexander Baird, who demolished the Barclays' house and built a new one.

Ury House, Kincardineshire

This house was written up in 2018 in my post on the Baird family, who purchased Ury from the Barclays after death of Capt. Robert Barclay-Allardice in 1854.

Barclay family of Ury (or Urie)

Barclay, David (1580-1660). Son of Thomas Barclay and his wife Janet Straiton of Lauriston, and grandson of George Barclay (d. 1607) of Mathers, born 1580. According to his great-grandson, he was 'a very polite well-bred man, but by the easiness of his temper, and living much at Court, he brought himself into such difficulties as obliged him to sell his estates, first Mathers, after they had kept it near 300 years and then the old estate after they had kept upwards of 500 years'. In fact, his embarrassments, which were real enough, derived partly from acting as surety for his father-in-law, Sir John Livingstone. In 1617 he was accused of a violent assault on George Ogilvie and when he did not appear to defend himself was 'denounced as a rebel', but this seems to have been quickly reversed or forgotten because he had become a JP for Kincardineshire by 1623. In 1634 he was finally 'put to the horn' for debt (i.e. made bankrupt), but the debt was still owed in 1643 when he was briefly imprisoned. He was admitted as a burgess of Glasgow, 1651. He married 1st, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Livingstone of Dunipace, and 2nd, Margaret, daughter of John Keith, and had issue:
(1.1) John Barclay (b. c.1607), born about 1607; he became embroiled in his father's financial woes and was himself proceeded against for debt in February 1643; he was probably unmarried and may have died soon after this as he does not appear in the records again;
(1.2) Alexander Barclay (b. c.1608), born about 1608; married, before 1631, Anna, perhaps the daughter of Matthew Ross of Haining Ross, but died without issue before 1652;
(1.3) David Barclay (1610-86) (q.v.);
(1.4) Rev. Robert Barclay (1611/2-82); educated at Aberdeen University (MA 1633), the Scots College in Paris and the College of St Nicolas du Chardonnet; became a Roman Catholic priest in about 1640; rector of the Scots College in Paris, 1655-82, and rebuilt the college buildings; had the reputation of being rather difficult and quarrelsome; died 7 February 1682 and was buried at the Scots College, Paris;
(2.1) Capt. James Barclay (d. 1645); an officer in his brother David's troop of horse (Capt.); died unmarried when he was killed at the Battle of Philliphaugh, 1645;
(2.2) Anne Barclay; married 1st, John Douglas of Tilliwhilly, and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, Robert Irvine of Drum; and married 3rd, 1649, Rev. David Strachan, afterwards Bishop of Brechin.
He inherited the Mathers estate in Kincardineshire and his family's ancient lands in the Mearns from his grandfather in 1607 but sold it all between 1611 and 1632.
He died in Edinburgh in 1660, and was buried in Canongate kirkyard, Edinburgh. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His second wife's date of death is unknown.

Barclay, David (1610-86). Third son of David Barclay (1580-c.1660) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Livingstone of Dunipace, born at Kirktounhill on the estate of Mathers in 1610. Educated at King's College, Aberdeen (admitted 1628 but did not graduate) and then travelled abroad, visiting Germany. He then became a soldier of fortune and served in the army of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden (Captain, 1630) in fighting against Ferdinand of Styria during the Thirty Years War, and later in the Prussian army (Maj., 1632/3). In 1638 he was summoned home to Scotland but his arrival was delayed by his arrest off the coast of Yorkshire by a Royalist privateer in May 1639; he was apparently still in custody in October 1641. Soon afterwards, however, he gained his freedom and joined the moderate Presbyterian army in the three-way struggle of the Civil War in Scotland (Maj., c.1642; Lt-Col.; Col. by 1646). When the Scots again took up arms against the English parliament in 1648 he was made responsible for recruiting cavalry in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire, and although he had not been actively engaged in the fighting he lost his position in the army when the Scots were defeated. He then retired to Gordonstoun. In 1651 he was deprived of his lands at Ury for his support of the Royalist cause in the second Civil War, but he recovered his property in 1654 after getting himself appointed as one of the Scottish MPs at Westminster (first for Sutherland and later for Kincardineshire and the Mearns) and as Commissioner for Forfeited Estates; in the latter capacity he succeeded in persuading the Government 'to restore all the Nobility and Gentrey to their fortunes, which made him so popular... that he had their publick thanks'. He seems to have withdrawn from public life in 1658 and lived quietly at Edinburgh or Gordonstoun until 1665, when he was arrested and imprisoned for acting as a commissioner under Cromwell. Although this was technically true, he might have expected that his use of the role to assist Royalists and his own sufferings under Cromwell might have protected him, and the real reasons for his arrest have never been satisfactorily explained. He was at first in Edinburgh Castle and was later under house arrest in Edinburgh, at Montrose and finally at Ury, but he was released only in 1670 after the intervention of the Earl of Middleton. He joined the Society of Friends in 1666, and his refusal as a Quaker to swear a 'bond of peace' extended his imprisonment by at least three years. He then lived peacefully at Ury until in 1676 he and many others were arrested at the instigation of the provost and clerics of Aberdeen for holding conventicles at Ury, and he was held prisoner for a further year. He married, 26 January 1648/9, Katherine (1620-63), daughter of Sir Robert Gordon, 1st bt., of Gordonstoun, and had issue:
(1) Robert Barclay (1648-90) (q.v.);
(2) John Barclay (1659-1731); emigrated in about 1684 to East New Jersey (USA), where he  received from his elder brother the grant of an estate of 500 acres called Plainfields; married, c.1700  in New Jersey, Catherine [surname unknown] (d. 1703) and had issue one son, from whom descended the Barclays of New York; died in April 1731;
(3) David Barclay (d. 1685); merchant; emigrated in 1685 to East New Jersey (USA) on board the 'America', but died at sea during the voyage;
(4) Lucy Barclay (d. 1686); died unmarried, October 1686;
(5) Jean Barclay; married, 1685, as his 3rd wife, Sir Ewan Cameron (c.1629-1719), kt., of Lochiel, and had issue.
He purchased the lands and barony of Ury (Kincardineshire) in 1647-48 (where the old tower had been burned by Royalist troops in 1645). Although the old castle may have been repaired in the 1650s sufficiently for him to occupy it, he did not build a new house until 1670. As soon as it was finished, he handed it over to his eldest son, although he seems to have lived there too, and in 1679 employed James Smith to 'cover with freestone the house of Urie'.
He died on or about 10 October, and was buried in the Quaker burial ground he established at Ury, 12 October 1686. His wife died in March 1663.

Barclay, Robert (1648-90). Eldest son of David Barclay (1610-86) and his wife Katherine, daughter of Sir Robert Gordon, 1st bt., of Gordonstoun, born at Gordonstoun (Morays.), 23 December 1648. He was brought up at Gordonstoun by his grandparents on strict Presbyterian principles, but as he showed academic promise he was in 1659 sent to Paris to be educated by his uncle, the rector of the Scots College there; he was younger than the other pupils but studied alongside them, learning French and Latin, rhetoric and divinity, honing his debating skills, and acquiring fencing and other gentlemanly accomplishments. In 1663, reputedly at the request of his ailing mother, he was brought home by his father and returned to the household at Gordonstoun. When his father was imprisoned in 1665, he visited him at Edinburgh castle, and was exposed to the conversation and beliefs of the Quaker, John Swinton. Although his father is said not to have tried to influence him in his religious beliefs, believing this should be a matter of individual conscience, he followed his father into the Society of Friends in 1666. He soon began publishing pamphlets containing reasoned defences of the Quaker position, the earliest of which was Truth Cleared of Calumnies (1671), and these led him on to write what came to be regarded as the text-book of Quaker theology, An apology for the true Christian divinity...preached by the people... called Quakers (1676); a collected edition of his writings was published in 1692. In 1672, he helped to found the Quaker meeting house in Aberdeen, and four years later he went with George Fox, William Penn, George Keith and other Quaker leaders on a mission to organise Yearly Meetings of the Society of Friends in Holland and Germany; while there he met Princess Elizabeth, Princess Palatine of the Rhine, and they remained friends until she died in 1679. In 1676-77, when his father and later Robert himself were imprisoned for 'holding conventicles' at Ury, she secured the help of Prince Rupert in persuading the King to order their release.  In 1677 he struck up a rather unexpected friendship with the Catholic Duke of York (later King James II), and he no doubt encouraged James' inclination to religious toleration; although he took no part in politics, he remained an informal counsellor to the king, and after the revolution of 1688 was a rather suspect figure to the new regime because of this friendship, and even had to defend himself from attacks that he was a closet Papist.  In 1681, William Penn purchased East New Jersey in America and made Barclay one of the council of 24 proprietors of the scheme, settlement of the new lands beginning in 1682. Robert was appointed Governor of East Jersey in that year, but made it a condition that he should not be required to go to America himself, instead appointing one of the other proprietors as his deputy. Some of the land he was allotted he assigned to his two brothers, who went to America in 1684 and 1685. He married, February 1669, Christian (c.1651-1723), daughter of Gilbert Mollison of Aberdeen, and had issue:
(1) David Barclay (1670-71), born 8 September 1670; died in infancy, 1671;
(2) Robert Barclay (1672-1747) (q.v.);
(3) Margaret Barclay (1673-85), born 4 October 1673; died young, 1685;
(4) Patience Barclay (1676-1757), born 25 November 1675/6; married, 8 April 1707, Timothy Forbes (d. 1743), son of Alexander Forbes of Aquorthes; died 22 June 1757;
(5) Katherine Barclay (1678-1758), born 26 June 1678; married, 17 June 1703, James Forbes (d. 1734), son of Alexander Forbes of Aquorthes; died 9 November 1758;
(6) Christian Barclay (1680-1751), born 15 May 1680; married, 1700 (contract 10 April),  Alexander Jaffray of Kingswells; died 1751;
(7) David Barclay (1682-1769) [for whom see my previous post]
(8) Jean Barclay (b. 1683), born 27 December 1683; married, 12 April 1707, Alexander Forbes (d. 1740), son of John Forbes; living in 1740;
(9) John Barclay (1687-1751), born 20 October 1687; settled in Dublin; married 1st, 26 June 1709, Margaret Wilson and 2nd, 19 May 1713, Anne (1694-1771), daughter of Amos Strettell of Dublin, merchant, by who he had two sons and nine daughters; died in Dublin, 8 June and was buried at Corke St. burial ground, 11 June 1751;
He was given the Ury House estate by his father in c.1672, and in 1679 King Charles II erected the lands of Ury into a free Barony.
He died at Ury, 3 October, and was buried in the Quaker burial ground there, 6 October 1690. His widow died in March 1723.

Barclay, Robert (1672-1747). Eldest surviving son of Robert Barclay (1648-90) and his wife Christian, daughter of Gilbert Mollison, born 25 March 1672. Educated at Theobalds Palace, Cheshunt (Herts), 1683-88. Like his father and grandfather, he became a Quaker in religion.  In 1698 he was briefly imprisoned after a friend sought to involve him in a Jacobite plot which was reported to the authorities, but he was soon released through the intervention of the Earl of Huntly with the king. In 1714 he became a burgess of Aberdeen. In his later years he became interested in the history and genealogy of his family, and published A genealogical account of the Barclays of Urie (1740; 2nd edn, 1812), which also contained a biographical sketch of his father and grandfather. He married, 1696 (contract 6 July), Elizabeth, daughter of John Brain, merchant of London, and had issue:
(1) Margaret (1697-1707), born 23 March 1697; died young, 13 May 1707;
(2) Robert Barclay (1699-1760) (q.v.);
(3) John Barclay (1701-14), born 19 July 1701; died young, 16 July 1714;
(4) Mollison Barclay (b. 1703), born 21 November 1703; married 1st, 1724, John Doubleday (1695-1736), son of John Doubleday of Alnwick Abbey (Northbld), and had issue one son and two daughters; married 2nd, 19 July 1739, Abel Strettell of Manchester; living in 1758;
(5) Elizabeth Barclay (b. 1708), born 11 May 1708; married, by 1729, Sir William Ogilvie (d. 1791), 4th bt., of Barras, and had issue two sons and several daughters;
(6) David Barclay (1710-83), born 29 April 1710; apparently a merchant in London, he was obliged in 1761 to stop payment, but his debts were discharged by his creditors without being paid in full, after which, 'by unremitting attention to business, and the strictest economy, he acquired, late in life, a competency', the greatest part of which he bequeathed to his former creditors; he married, 10 January 1737, Mary (1712-72), daughter of John Pardoe of Worcester, by whom he had issue one daughter; died 10 October 1783;
(7) Katharine Barclay (b. 1713), born 1 April 1713; died unmarried;
(8) Jean Barclay (1719-20), born 23 April 1719; died in infancy, 12 June 1720.
He inherited the Ury estate from his father in 1690, and enlarged the property by repurchasing lands known as Finlayson and Redcloak which had formerly been part of the estate. He also laid out 'very fine gardens' around the house before 1722.
He died 27 March 1747. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Barclay, Robert (1699-1760). Eldest son of Robert Barclay (1672-1747) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Braine, merchant, of London, born 20 May 1699. He possessed a physical strength that led him to be known as "Robert the Strong", and which was demonstrated in a number of picaresque episodes recorded by the family historian. He was a Quaker in religion, and author of several religious tracts and essays. Although he assisted his father with the management of the Ury estate he was not much interested in agriculture, and the by the time of his death the estate was in poor condition. He married, 28 July 1725, his cousin, Une (1701-62), daughter of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, and had issue:
(1) Jean Barclay (1726-50), born 22 March 1726; died unmarried, July 1750.
(2) Robert Barclay (1731-97) (q.v.);
(3) David Barclay (1737-62), born 24 September 1737; brought up as a Quaker but left the Society of Friends on joining the army as an officer in the 42nd Highlanders; died unmarried when he was killed at the taking of Martinique in 1762;
(4) Ewan (aka Evan) Barclay (1738-1805), born 1 October 1738; lived in Marylebone (Middx); died unmarried, 23 August, and was buried at Winchmore Hill, 28 August 1805;
(5) Alexander Barclay; probably died in infancy;
He inherited the Ury estate from his father in 1747.
He died 10 October 1760 and was buried in the Quaker burial ground at Ury. His widow died in March 1762 and was also buried at Ury.

Barclay (later Barclay-Allardice), Robert (1732-97). Eldest son of Robert Barclay (1699-1760) and his wife Une, daughter of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, born 17 November 1732. Like his father he was over six feet tall and very strong, but unlike him he was ‘possessed of an enterprising spirit and extensive knowledge in agriculture, which he acquired by reading ... and by his own observations in the different tours which he made on foot in his younger years through Scotland and a great part of England’. He became a pioneer of the new farming methods in Scotland and 'was the first man who ever sowed a turnip in a field or artificial grasses north of the Firth of Forth'; he brought 2,000 acres into a high state of cultivation, reclaimed 800 acres from moor, and planted 1,200 acres with forest trees. A popular and philanthropic landlord, he laid out a new town at Stonehaven, and during the famine of 1783 organized ‘a benevolent society for purchasing meal and grain to be retailed at an underprice’. Despite being a Quaker, he became MP for Kincardineshire, 1788-97, and must have had to bend his Quaker principles to take the parliamentary oath. He was a keen pedestrian, and is said to have walked from Ury to London (some 510 miles) to take his place in Parliament, on one occasion accomplishing this feat in ten days. In 1776, on his second marriage, he formally took his wife's surname in addition to his own, although he seldom seems to have used the double-barrelled form. In 1785 his wife’s claim for recognition as heir of line to her ancestor the Earl of Airth and Menteith was successful and thereafter Barclay’s ‘great object’ was to secure the peerage for his family, although he never achieved this and he and his wife were divorced in 1793. His portrait was painted by Raeburn and perhaps also by Beechey. He married 1st, 3 June 1756 at Tottenham Monthly Meeting (Middx), Lucy (1737?-57), daughter of David Barclay (1682-1769) of London, and 2nd, December 1776 (div. 1793), Sarah Anne (1757-1833), only daughter and heiress of James Allardice, and had issue:
(1.1) Lucy Barclay (1757-1817), born 22 March 1757; married, 7 October 1777 at Hertford, Samuel Galton FRS (1753-1832) of Duddeston House, Aston juxta Birmingham (Warks), banker, and had issue six sons and four daughters; died 16 November and was buried at Quaker burial ground, Birmingham, 21 November 1817;
(2.1) Anne Barclay-Allardice (1777-82), born 13 September and baptised 30 November 1777; died young, 29 October 1782;
(2.2) Une Cameron Barclay-Allardice (1778-1809), born 13 September and baptised 27 September 1778; married 25 July 1802, John Innes (1776-1832) of Cowie (Kincardines.) and had issue; died 26 September 1809;
(2.3) Capt. Robert Barclay-Allardice (1779-1854) [for whom see my post on the Allardice family];
(2.4) twin, Margaret Barclay-Allardice (1780-1855), born 14 October and baptised 16 November 1780; married, 27 September 1809, Hudson Gurney (1775-1864) of Keswick Hall (Norfolk); died without issue, 16 December 1855;

(2.5) twin, Mary Barclay-Allardice (1780-99), born 14 October and baptised 16 November 1780; died unmarried, 28 June and was buried at the Quaker burial ground, Birmingham, 5 July 1799;

(2.6) Rodney (f.) Barclay-Allardice (1782-1853), born 29 April and baptised 6 June 1782; died unmarried, 1853;
(2.7) James Barclay-Allardice (1784-1804), born 3 July 1784; collector of customs at Trincomalee (Ceylon); died at Madras, 3 March 1804;
(2.8) Maj. David Stuart Barclay-Allardice (1787-1826), born 3 and baptised 29 March 1787; an officer in 42nd Highlanders and later the 28th Foot (Lt., 1811; Capt., 1813; Maj. 1822); died unmarried at Otranto (Italy), 1826.
He inherited the Ury estate from his father in 1760. Soon afterwards, he bought the property of Arduthie and laid out the new town of Stonehaven on this estate. In 1789 he obtained plans from James Playfair for enlarging Ury House but nothing was done.
He died 8 April 1797. His first wife died 23 March and was buried at Winchmore Hill, 29 March 1757. His second wife married 2nd, 1795, John Nudd (c.1764-1828), and was buried at Sprowston (Norfk), 12 July 1833.

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry - The Kingdom in Scotland, 2001, pp. 55-59; H.F. Barclay, A history of the Barclay family, vol. 3: the Barclays in Scotland and England from 1610-1933, 1934; ODNB entry for Robert Barclay (1648-90).

Location of archives

Barclay family of Ury and Allardice: title deeds, estate papers, genealogical and misc family papers, 1201-20th cent. [National Records of Scotland, GD49]; miscellaneous estate and family papers, 1724-1843 [Norfolk Record Office, RQG]

Coat of arms

Azure, a chevron ermine, in chief three crosses patée argent.

Can you help?

• Is anyone able to provide fuller or more detailed genealogical information about David Barclay (1580-1660) and his children?
• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
• As always, any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 6 April 2019.