Charles Barclay (26 December 1780 – 5 December 1855) of Bury Hill,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, was a British brewer and landowner, who also served as a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

Member of Parliament for the

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

(1815–1818),

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

(1826–1830), and

West Surrey West Surrey (formally the Western division of Surrey) was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Surrey, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bl ...

(1835–1837). Closely related to both the Barclay and (through his mother) Gurney banking dynasties, he came from a prominent

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family and was cousin of social reformer Elizabeth Fry.

Life

Charles Barclay was born in

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...

, London on 26 December 1780, 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, both came from wealthy

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 Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

bank. Through her great-grandfather John Gurney (1655–1721), Charles' mother was related to brothers John (1719–1779) and

Henry Gurney Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney (27 June 1898 – 6 October 1951) was a British colonial administrator who served in various posts throughout the British Empire. Gurney was killed by communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency, whil ...

(1721–1777), who together founded Gurney's Bank of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in 1770. This became part of Barclays in 1896. Although brought up a Quaker, Charles volunteered to serve in the local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

when the country was threatened with invasion from French forces under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. On 1 August 1804 he married Anna Maria Kett, the eldest daughter of Thomas Kett (a

lineal descendant A lineal or direct descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in a person's direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate ...

of Robert Kett, who led 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 The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

. Charles Barclay died on 5 December 1855, 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."

Publications

References

Sources

* 1780 births 1855 deaths English brewers English landowners 19th-century English landowners Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1835–1837 Tory MPs (pre-1834) 19th-century British businesspeople {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub