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), 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 opera ...

and

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

operations off the coast of France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, having his paintings exhibited at the

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

, publishing reference works about the flora of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

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 1,10 ...

Background and education

Barclay was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territory ...

. He attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

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

Ruskin School of Art The Ruskin School of Art is the Department of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin School of Art grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later ...

. 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 Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

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. 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 so ...

,near

Petworth Petworth is a 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, Heat ...

, 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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, Cambridge. He was a member of the Oxford University Expedition to Sarawak in 1932. His experiences during ...

.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 Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

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 14 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