Robert Barclay-Allardice, 5th Laird of Urie

Biographical Summary

BARCLAY ALLARDICE, Robert (1732-97), of Urie, Kincardine.

Family and Education

b. 1732, 1st son of Robert Barclay of Urie by Une, daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel. m. (1) June 1756, his cousin Lucy (d. Mar. 1757), daughter of David Barclay, linen draper, of Cheapside, London (she died giving birth to a daughter Lucy); (2) Dec. 1776, Sarah Anne, daughter and heiress of James Allardice of Allardice, Kincardine (div. Sept. 1793), 3 sons, 5 daughters. suc. fa. 1760.

Biography

This Member was the great-grandson of Robert Barclay, the Quaker ‘Apologist’ and colonizer of East New Jersey, and was connected by kinship and marriage with a number of wealthy London merchant families including Barclays the brewers. By his second marriage he acquired large estates and additional interest in Kincardineshire and Aberdeen Burghs, and thereafter was known as Barclay Allardice of Urie and Allardice. ‘Possessed of an enterprising spirit and extensive knowledge in agriculture, which he acquired by reading ... and by his own observations in the different tours which he made on foot in his younger years through Scotland and a great part of England’, he was a pioneer of the new farming methods in the county. A popular and philanthropic landlord, he laid out a new village adjoining Stonehaven, and during the famine of 1783 organized ‘a benevolent society for purchasing meal and grain to be retailed at an underprice’. In 1785 his wife’s claim for recognition as heir of line to her ancestor the Earl of Airth and Menteith, was successful and thereafter Barclay’s ‘great object’ was to secure the peerage for his family.

In 1788 Barclay was returned with the support of Henry Dundas, and voted with Pitt on the Regency bill. He is not known to have spoken in the House.

He died 8 Apr. 1797.

SOURCE: The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964

Other References

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol. I. page 75

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• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Dec 27 2017, 5:19:41 UTC

Robert Barclay, son of Robert Barclay and his wife, Una Cameron, was born in 1732. In June 1756 he married his cousin, Lucy Barclay, daughter of David Barclay and his wife, Mary Pardoe. They were grandchildren of Robert Barclay and his wife, Elizabeth Braine.
In 1785 his wife’s claim for recognition as heir of line to her ancestor the Earl of Airth and Menteith, was successful and thereafter Barclay’s ‘great object’ was to secure the peerage for his family. Robert died on 8 April 1797.

• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Dec 4 2019, 16:38:05 UTC