Captain Robert Barclay Allardice 1779-1854
OSCR Charity Number SC044662
According to the Don Fox Family and Social History:
Robert Barclay was born into a prominent Quaker family in the North East of Scotland in 1779. His father had assumed the additional surname of “Allardice” on his second marriage in 1776, but the family was still generally known as “Barclay”. During a short military career, Robert (1779) was in 1806 raised to the rank of Captain and was thenceforth popularly known as “Captain Barclay”. 0n the death of his mother in 1833 he inherited the Allardice estate in Kincardineshire, in addition to owning the Barclay estate of Ury in the same county. He then became formally known as “Robert Barclay Allardice” but his many admirers continued to refer to him as “Captain Barclay”.
Like many well-to-do young gentlemen in Georgian and Regency times, his inheritance led Robert Barclay (1779) to associate with others of a similar background in a life of hedonism. Diverse sporting pursuits, wagers, gambling and dissolute behaviour, mostly conducted in the fleshpots of England, far away from his native county of Kincardineshire, permeated much of his life. Despite his lifestyle, he proved to be a remarkably able pedestrian (participant in any athletic event or challenge involving walking and/or running). Pedestrianism was a popular spectator sport in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Robert Barclay’s athletic achievements gained national recognition, his reputation long surviving the period of his sporting performances.
In other aspects of his life, such as participation in coaching and in agriculture, Robert Barclay (1832) gained prominence but only modest financial success, and, in the background, his personal life was consistently shambolic, even scandalous and his family and business records chaotic. But despite his defects of character he is still, 200 years later, revered for his athletic prowess.
This is the life story of the remarkable Robert Barclay Allardice, “Captain Barclay”, pedestrian extraordinary, breeder of shorthorn cattle and both part-owner and frequent driver of the “Defiance” coach.
Robert Barclay was born into a prominent Quaker family in the North East of Scotland in 1779. His father had assumed the additional surname of “Allardice” on his second marriage in 1776, but the family was still generally known as “Barclay”. During a short military career, Robert (1779) was in 1806 raised to the rank of Captain and was thenceforth popularly known as “Captain Barclay”. 0n the death of his mother in 1833 he inherited the Allardice estate in Kincardineshire, in addition to owning the Barclay estate of Ury in the same county. He then became formally known as “Robert Barclay Allardice” but his many admirers continued to refer to him as “Captain Barclay”.
Like many well-to-do young gentlemen in Georgian and Regency times, his inheritance led Robert Barclay (1779) to associate with others of a similar background in a life of hedonism. Diverse sporting pursuits, wagers, gambling and dissolute behaviour, mostly conducted in the fleshpots of England, far away from his native county of Kincardineshire, permeated much of his life. Despite his lifestyle, he proved to be a remarkably able pedestrian (participant in any athletic event or challenge involving walking and/or running). Pedestrianism was a popular spectator sport in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Robert Barclay’s athletic achievements gained national recognition, his reputation long surviving the period of his sporting performances.
In other aspects of his life, such as participation in coaching and in agriculture, Robert Barclay (1832) gained prominence but only modest financial success, and, in the background, his personal life was consistently shambolic, even scandalous and his family and business records chaotic. But despite his defects of character he is still, 200 years later, revered for his athletic prowess.
This is the life story of the remarkable Robert Barclay Allardice, “Captain Barclay”, pedestrian extraordinary, breeder of shorthorn cattle and both part-owner and frequent driver of the “Defiance” coach.
Learn more about Captain Robert Barclay Allardice:
- A History of the Barclay Family, Part III, pp 219 ff: https://archive.org/details/historyofbarclay00barc_1/page/n243/mode/2up
- http://donaldpfox.blogspot.com/2018/10/robert-barclay-allardice-captain.html
- http://gillonj.tripod.com/thecelebratedpedestrian/
- https://sshf.sportscotland.org.uk/inductees/a-f/captain-robert-barclay-allardice/
- https://peoplepill.com/people/robert-barclay-allardice-1/
- https://ultrarunninghistory.com/1000-milers-part-2/
- https://www.wr-nw.com/robert-barclay-allardice.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Barclay_Allardice