The first character I'd like to explore is John. There are many Johns in the Barclay family history, in fact it's the most popular name, but this one is the father of James and he was born on Christmas Eve 1794. My research suggests he was the fifth of six children born to John and Margaret, and he interests me for several reasons:
He married Menie on 29th December 1823, some seven months after the birth of their first child. Although this is not uncommon today, it would have been significant and controversial at the time.
He was a servant at Ladyland, an important estate in Ayrshire and I've discovered that Barclays were the original Barons of this estate...
His death certificate describes him as a slater so it seems sometime after James was born he learned a trade
0 comments:
Post a Comment