Joseph Gurney Barclay (9 February 1879 – 15 April 1976) was a British banker and

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. Barclay was the fourth son of Robert Barclay of High Leigh and the grandson of Joseph Gurney Barclay, an astronomer. He was born on 9 February 1879 in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

, Hertfordshire. His mother was Elizabeth Ellen Buxton, granddaughter of Sir

Thomas Fowell Buxton Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet Buxton of Belfield and Runton (1 April 1786Olwyn Mary Blouet, "Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, first baronet (1786–1845)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed ...

. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He entered the family bank (

Barclay's Bank 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 ...

), but left in 1908 to become a missionary to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He returned to Britain in 1926 to work for the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

Family

He married twice. His first wife was Gillian Birbeck whom he married on 25 May 1905 in Freebridge Lynn,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. She died on 15 May 1909 in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

leaving an infant son Roderick Barclay KCMG (died 1996), who was only three months old, having been born on 22 February previously. His second wife was Gwendoline Rose Watney (1885-1976) who was already a missionary in Japan with

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. She was the daughter of

Herbert Watney Herbert Watney (1843–1932) of Buckhold, Pangbourne, Berkshire (now St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, St. Andrew's School) was a nineteenth century London physician, landowner and Philanthropy, philanthropist, and a strong supporter of Christian mi ...

Pangbourne Pangbourne is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in the West Berkshire unitary area of the county of Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has shops, churches, schools and a village hall. Outside its nucleated village, grouped developed are ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, and they were married there on 10 March 1915. Their son

Oliver Barclay Oliver Rainsford Barclay (22 February 1919 – 12 September 2013) was a British academic and evangelical Christian. Originally a zoologist, he later turned his attentions to widening the influence of conservative evangelical Christianity within uni ...

(1919 – 2013) was a British academic and prominent evangelical Christian. He died on 15 April 1976 at Troutstream Hall,

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

and his wife Gwen died 11 days later on 26 April. An obituary written by the

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

Robin Woods Robert Wilmer Woods, (14 February 1914 – 20 October 1997), known as Robin Woods, was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Worcester from 1971 to 1982. He previously served as Archdeacon of Sheffield from 1958 to 1962, and as De ...

was published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Joseph Gurney 1879 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Anglicans 20th-century evangelicals Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Anglican missionaries British bankers British evangelicals British evangelists Evangelical Anglicans Evangelical missionaries People educated at Harrow School