Charles Barclay (MP)

Charles Barclay (26 December 1780[1] – 5 December 1855[2]) of Bury Hill, Surrey, was a British brewer and landowner, who also served as a Tory Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Southwark (1815–1818), Dundalk (1826–1830), and West Surrey (1835–1837).[3] Closely related to the both the Barclay and (through his mother) Gurney banking dynasties, he came from a prominent Quaker family and was cousin of social reformer Elizabeth Fry.[4]

For other people with the same name, see Charles Barclay.

Life

Charles Barclay was born in Cheapside, London on 26 December 1780,[1] the eldest son of Robert Barclay (1751–1830) and his first wife Rachel Gurney (1755–1794). The couple, who were married on 10 October 1775,[5] both came from wealthy Quaker families with interests in the textile trade and banking. Charles' great-grandfather, David Barclay of Cheapside (1682–1769), was a draper and one of the richest merchants in London, whom after his first wife died wed the much younger daughter of John Freame (1669–1745), a co-founder of the present Barclays bank.[6][7][8] Through her great-grandfather John Gurney (1655–1721), Charles' mother was related to brothers John (1719–1779) and Henry Gurney (1721–1777),[9] who together founded Gurney's Bank of Norwich in 1770. This became part of Barclays in 1896.[10]

Although brought up a Quaker, Charles volunteered to serve in the local militia when the country was threatened with invasion from French forces under Napoleon.

On 1 August 1804 he married Anna Maria Kett,[11] the eldest daughter of Thomas Kett (a lineal descendant of Robert Kett, who lead a rebellion against Norfolk landowners in 1549). The couple had 4 sons and 3 daughters, of whom his second son Robert (1808–1843) became a director of the Bank of England.[4]

Charles Barclay died on 5 December 1855,[12] having been involved in a serious riding accident about two weeks previously, when "in consequence of meeting the hounds, he lost command of his horse, and fell to the ground, sustaining so much injury as to result in his death."[13]

Publications
  • Barclay, Charles, ed. (1833). Letters From the Dorking Emigrants Who Went to Upper Canada in the Spring of 1832. Dorking: Robert Best Ede – via Hathi Trust.

References
  1. General Record Office. "Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials: RG 6/971". Kew, London: The National Archives. Retrieved 25 January 2021 – via Ancestry.
  2. "Weekly Obituary – Barclay, Mr C.". Illustrated Times (28). 15 December 1855. p. 10. Retrieved 25 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. Salmon, Philip; Spencer, Howard (2009). "Barclay, Charles (1780-1855), of 43 Grosvenor Place, Mdx.". In Fisher, David R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1820-1832. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521193141. Retrieved 25 January 2021 – via The History of Parliament Trust.
  4. Barclay & Wilson-Fox (1934), p. 278–281.
  5. General Record Office. "Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials; Class: RG 6/1387". Kew, London: The National Archives. Retrieved 28 January 2021 – via Ancestry.
  6. Barclay & Wilson-Fox (1934), p. 234.
  7. Hilton-Price, F. G. (1876). A Handbook of London Bankers. London: Chatto and Windus. pp. 9–13. Retrieved 28 January 2021 – via Hathi Trust.
  8. Ackrill, Margaret; Hannah, Leslie (2008). Barclays: The Business of Banking, 1690-1996. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521041007.
  9. Burke, John; Burke, John Edward (1847). Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. 1. London: Henry Colburn. p. 516. Retrieved 28 January 2021 – via Hathi Trust.
  10. "The Money Market". The Times (34, 913). London. 10 June 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 28 January 2021 – via The Times Archive.
  11. Norfolk Record Office. "Norfolk Church of England Registers; PD 649/5". Norwich: Norfolk Record Office. Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via Ancestry.
  12. Sylvanus, Urban, ed. (1856). "Charles Barclay, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 115 (3rd Series) no. 1. London: John Boyer Nichols and Sons. p. 86. Retrieved 31 January 2021 – via Hathi Trust.
  13. Sylvanus, Urban, ed. (1856). "Charles Barclay, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. 115 (3rd Series) no. 2. London: John Boyer Nichols and Sons. pp. 189–190. Retrieved 31 January 2021 – via Hathi Trust.

Sources
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