Clan Barclay

[6] Another theory of the Barclay origin, put forth by the historian G. W. S. Barrow, points to the small village of Berkley in Somerset (in 1086 Berchelei).

[7][8][9] The first of these involved a younger son of the original English family moving to Scotland in the first half of the twelfth century, while a second migration occurred around 1220.

Only a distant kinship existed between these separate branches of the Scottish Barclays in the early thirteenth century, and the original family, including such notables as Walter de Berkeley, Chamberlain of Scotland,[4] had become extinct in the male line around 1200.

[8] Charters from the reign of William the Lion show that the king granted the estates of Laurencekirk and Fordoun to Humphrey son of Theobald, in right of his wife Agatha.

[4] In more modern times, the descendants of the Barclay of Mathers line were noted for producing field marshals, Quakers and bankers.

[4] Colonel David Barclay, the first Laird of Urie, was a soldier of fortune who fought for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.

[4] Another branch of the Clan Barclay, the Barons of Towie, were involved in shipping trade in the 17th century between Scotland and Scandinavia, and the lands around the Baltic.

[4] He was created a prince by the Tsar and his memory is still honored in Russia where his portrait hangs in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Coat of arms of the Barclay de Tollys
Coat of arms of the Barclay de Tollys