His father David Barclay, first laird of Ury, had served under Gustavus Adolphus, and pursued a somewhat tortuous course through the troubles of the Civil Wars.

Soon afterwards he began to write in defence of the movement, by publishing in 1670 Truth cleared of Calumnies, and a Catechism and Confession of Faith (1673).

[6][7] The essential view which Barclay maintained was that all people can be illuminated by the Inward Light of Christ "which is the author of the Scriptures and will lead them into all truth".

He was an ardent theological student, a man of warm feelings and considerable mental powers, and he soon came prominently forward as the leading apologist of the new doctrine, winning his spurs in a controversy with one William Mitchell.

The most prominent of the Theses was that bearing on immediate revelation, in which the superiority of the Inward Light of Christ to reason or scripture is sharply stated.

His greatest work, An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, was published in Latin at Amsterdam in 1676, and was an elaborate statement of the grounds for holding certain fundamental positions laid down in the Theses.

[3][8] The Apology, however, failed to arrest the persecution to which the Quakers were exposed, and Barclay himself, on returning from Europe, where he travelled extensively (once with William Penn and George Fox), and had several interviews with Elisabeth, Princess Palatine, was several times thrown into prison, but soon regained his liberty, and was in the enjoyment of Court favour.

After Carteret's death his half (East Jersey) was sold in 1682 to twelve people, eleven of whom were members of the Society of Friends.

Englishman Thomas Rudyard, a London lawyer, was the first to serve as deputy under Robert Barclay, having been appointed on 16 September 1682.

Rudyard disagreed with this policy and he and the Council appointed Philip Wells as Deputy Surveyor, thereby circumventing Groom's authority.

[11] Thomas Rudyard's land dealings resurfaced when, on 28 February 1684/5, he received a grant of 1,038 acres (420 ha) on Raritan Bay in Monmouth County.

In September 1686 the decision was made to remove Lawrie from office, and on 5 October Lord Neill Campbell presented his commission from Gov.

[17][18] His legacy was as one of the founders of the present-day Barclays Bank, a century ahead of its formation under that name, and in the brewing industry; he also manumitted an estate of slaves in Jamaica.