Sir Robert Noton Barclay (11 May 1872 – 24 November 1957) was an English export shipping merchant, banker and a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who served as

Lord Mayor of Manchester This is a list of the Lord Mayors of the City of Manchester in the North West of England. Not to be confused with the Directly elected Greater Manchester Mayor. The Current and 124th Lord Mayor is Cllr Donna Ludford, Labour who has served Si ...

, England

Family and education

Barclay was the son of Robert Barclay, a South America shipping merchant, with strong connections to the Lancashire cotton trade. He attended

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...

and the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

. In 1898, he married Helena Margaret Bythell and they had two sons, John and Robbie and three daughters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Rosalind. Barclay's sister, Mary Jane (1870–1939), married

John Hope Simpson Sir John Hope Simpson OBJ (23 July 1868 – 10 April 1961) was a British Liberal politician who served as a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom and later in the Government of the Dominion of Newfoundland. Hope Simpson was born in Wes ...

who was Liberal MP for

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

from 1922 to 1924.

Career

Barclay was an export shipping merchant. He succeeded his father in the family firm, Robert Barclay & Co in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

but he also had other extensive business interests. He was director of the

District Bank The Manchester and Liverpool District Bank was formed in 1829 and it became one of the leading provincial joint stock banks; its name was shortened to District Bank in 1924. The Bank was acquired by the National Provincial Bank in 1962 but kept ...

from 1913, being its Deputy Chairman from 1932 and chairman from 1936 to 1946. He was also a director of the National Boiler Co. and of the

Manchester Ship Canal Company The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the rive ...

Public life

Barclay served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Manchester. He played a prominent role in the commercial life of Manchester, being President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce from 1914 to 1916 and in 1931 he was a member of a British trade delegation to Argentina led by Sir

Robert Burton-Chadwick Sir Robert Burton-Chadwick, 1st Baronet (20 June 1869 – 21 May 1951) was a shipping magnate and an English Conservative Party politician. Chadwick was born at Oxton, Cheshire, the son of Joseph Chadwick, being baptised with the name of Robert ...

. He served as

High Sheriff of Cheshire This is a list of Sheriffs (and after 1 April 1974, High Sheriffs) of Cheshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

for 1937–1938. Barclay was active in several branches of social and philanthropic work in Manchester, notably as Chairman of the Manchester

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and as a member of the court and council of Manchester University. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1936 for public and philanthropic services in Manchester.

Donations of property

In 1929 Barclay purchased land known the Ings and Stable Hills on the shore of

Derwent Water Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowda ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and presented them to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. He later acquired

Wray Castle Wray Castle is a Victorian neo-gothic building at Claife in the English county of Cumbria. The house and grounds have belonged to the National Trust since 1929, and house has opened to the public on a regular basis since 2013. The grounds, whi ...

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

near

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, Cumbria, Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern ...

and made a gift of the castle and of the surrounding land to the

. In 1943 he presented his then home at

Mobberley Mobberley is a village in Cheshire, England, between Wilmslow and Knutsford, which in 2001 had a population of 2,546, increasing to 3,050 at the 2011 Census. Mobberley railway station is on the Manchester to Chester line. Manchester Airport lie ...

Hall, Cheshire to the Manchester Education Committee for use as a residential school.

Politics

Manchester politics

Barclay was first elected a member of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

in 1917 and amongst the committees he served on, he was a member of the Finance Committee. He was later an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the City and served as

for the year 1929–1930. In 1938 he was appointed as Chairman of the city's

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

special committee and the following year he was elected to chair the Emergency committee, an important position while the country was preparing for war. He held the post into the Second World War. He was

for 1937.

Parliament

Barclay first stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1923 general election. In a straight fight in the Manchester Exchange constituency he defeated the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP, Sir Edwin Stockton by a majority of 1,799 votes. In

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

he faced a new

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

opponent Edward Fielden. By 1924 the Conservatives had revived nationally and Fielden regained the seat with a majority of 2,507. Barclay tried to win back Manchester Exchange at the 1929 general election but in a three-cornered contest he again came in second behind the Conservative, with

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

third. He did not stand for election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

again.

Death

Barclay died in hospital following an accident on 24 November 1957 aged 85 years. Lady Barclay survived until 27 October 1960 when she died at the family home, Far Hills,

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. In 2011, it had a population of 4,780. Alderley Edge is northwest of Macclesfield and south of Manchester, at the base of a steep and thickly wooded sandstone escarpment, Alder ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

.The Times, 28 October 1960 p17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Robert Noton 1872 births 1957 deaths People from Mobberley People educated at Uppingham School Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester People associated with the Victoria University of Manchester English bankers English merchants English justices of the peace UK MPs 1923–1924 Knights Bachelor Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Manchester High Sheriffs of Cheshire Lord Mayors of Manchester YMCA leaders Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Lancashire