James Gillespie Barclay (24 June 1882 – 5 October 1972) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life

Barclay was born in

Pigeon Bay Pigeon Bay is a body of water that lies between Minnesota, United States and Ontario, Canada and is part of Lake Superior. The international boundary between the two countries lies in the middle of the bay. The name of "Pigeon" Bay was most like ...

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

. His father was Morrison Barclay. He married Helen Betrice in 1907, but was a widower by the time he joined the army. Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was a farmer and lived in the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

suburb of

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

. He served with the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

from 1916 to 1919. He then bought a property in Pukehuia, Northland, where he owned near the Wairoa River. He sold his farm in 1931 and retired to Whangarei. He served on several local boards in Northland.

Political career

Barclay unsuccessfully stood against the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Gordon Coates Joseph Gordon Coates (3 February 1878 – 27 May 1943) served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Born in rural Northland, Coates grew up on a cattle run ...

, in the electorate in the . In the , he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent in the electorate in Northland,

Alfred Murdoch Alfred James (Fred) Murdoch (18 April 1877 – 1 June 1960) was a New Zealand politician, first as an Independent Liberal then of the United Party, and from 1943 the National Party. He was Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Mines from 19 ...

. He beat Murdoch in the , but was defeated in turn by Murdoch after two parliamentary terms in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

. He was a cabinet minister in the First Labour Government under

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

. He was

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

(1941–1943), Minister of Marketing (1941–1943),

Minister of Lands The Minister of Lands in New Zealand was a cabinet position appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of the Department of Lands and Survey. List of ministers The following ministers held the office of Minister of Lands. ;Key Ta ...

(1943), and Commissioner of State Forests (1943). He then became High Commissioner to Australia from 1944 to 1950. His appointment (and that of the other defeated candidate

Charles Boswell Charles Wallace Boswell (5 August 1886 – 17 June 1956) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Boswell was the son of a pioneer family and was born in the Coromandel. He went to school at Driving ...

) attracted criticism as political appointments.

Later life

A son, Bruce Barclay, was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent wa ...

from to 1979. A nephew,

Ron Barclay Ronald Morrison Barclay (2 September 1914 – 29 April 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Early life and family Born in Little River, New Zealand in 1914, he received his education at the Christchurch Technical College. ...

, was MP for

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

from to 1975. James Barclay died in Christchurch in 1972.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Portrait photo
published in ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' in 1931 {{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Jim 1882 births 1972 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand High Commissioners of New Zealand to Australia New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1928 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1951 New Zealand general election