Early life Barclay was born in
Pigeon Bay on
Banks Peninsula. His father was Morrison Barclay. He married Helen Betrice in 1907, but was a widower by the time he joined the army. Before
World War I, he was a farmer and lived in the
Christchurch suburb of
Riccarton. He served with the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1919. He then bought a property in Pukehuia,
Northland, where he owned near the
Wairoa River. He sold his farm in 1931 and retired to
Whangārei. He served on several local boards in Northland.
Political career Barclay unsuccessfully stood against the
Prime Minister,
Gordon Coates, in the electorate in the . In the , he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent in the electorate in
Northland,
Alfred Murdoch. He beat Murdoch in the , but was defeated in turn by Murdoch after two parliamentary terms in
1943. He was a cabinet minister in the
First Labour Government under
Peter Fraser. He was
Minister of Agriculture (1941–1943),
Minister of Marketing (1941–1943),
Minister of Lands (1943), and
Commissioner of State Forests (1943). He then became
High Commissioner to Australia from 1944 to 1950. His appointment (and that of the other defeated candidate
Charles Boswell) attracted criticism as political appointments.
Later life A son,
Bruce Barclay, was
Member of Parliament for
Christchurch Central from to 1979. A nephew,
Ron Barclay, was MP for
New Plymouth from to 1975. James Barclay died in Christchurch in 1972. ==Notes==