Sir Colville Herbert Sanford Barclay, 14th Baronet (7 May 1913 – 1 September 2010) was a British naval officer, painter and botanist whose career spanned

amphibious landings Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

and

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operations off the coast of France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, having his paintings exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, publishing reference works about the flora of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and taking commissions to obtain plant samples from across the world for the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Background and education

Barclay was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of Sir Colville Adrian de Rune Barclay, a diplomat, and Sarita Ward, daughter of the sculptor and explorer

Herbert Ward Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

. He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

where he studied PPE, taking courses part-time at the

Ruskin School of Art The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division, University of Oxford, Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, ...

. In 1930 he inherited the Barclay baronetcy after the death of his uncle, Sir Robert Barclay, 13th Baronet.

Career

In 1937 Barclay joined the diplomatic corps before joining the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

in 1941 during the

. He was deployed throughout the conflict in small boats operating in

operations along the French coast, and left the Navy in 1946 as a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. After the war, he took over management of the family's large investment portfolio, which provided enough income for him to be able to focus on his interest in art. Operating from a studio at his home, first in London then in Denham and subsequently

Pitshill Pitshill is a Grade II* listed house built in the neoclassical style and is located within the Parish of Tillington a couple of miles west of Petworth. Begun by William Mitford in 1760 on the site of an earlier house it was completed by his son, ...

,near

Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...

, West Sussex. Barclay experimented widely with his art and was exhibited at the

and in many other places. A number of his artworks were purchased by public galleries, although he had no necessity to sell. It was not until he was in his nineties that Barclay claimed that he had finally been able to paint in the manner he wished. Aside from his art and business interests, Barclay was a keen botanist, his work focusing initially on the island of

. He contributed a chapter to the 1980 guide ''Flowers of Greece and the Balkans'' and subsequently published his own work ''Crete: Checklist of the Vascular Plants'' in 1986. He collected many plants in the course of his research and as a result was asked by Desmond Meikle to procure samples for the

, initially in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

but later from many countries around the globe including Nepal with

Patrick Synge Patrick Millington Synge (1910-1982) was a British botanist, writer and plant hunter. Career He was a graduate of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. His first book documented a British Museum Natural History expedition to East Af ...

.In Search of Flowers. Published by Michael Joseph, Patrick Millington Synge (1973) Barclay was also an advocate of homeopathic medicine and spent forty years on the board of the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London.

Family

Barclay married Rosamund Elliott in 1949 and had three children. Following his death on 1 September 2010, his baronetcy passed to his eldest son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Colville 1913 births 2010 deaths Painters from London 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists English botanists Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia People educated at Eton College Place of death missing Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II 20th-century English male artists