BORN YORK 1890. ENLISTED YORK, SON OF THE LATE WILLIAM GEORGE BARCLAY (1837-1902) AND ELIZABETH SARAH BARCLAY (1848-1917), LIVING IN HULL. HIS MOTHER IS BURIED IN HULL. HE SERVED AS PRIVATE, 7117, 2ND WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT WITH HIS BROTHER. HE CAME FROM A MILITARY FAMILY. HIS FATHER SERVED 37 YEARS WITH THE WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. SEVEN SONS AND THREE BROTHER IN LAWS SERVED IN THE WAR. THEY HAD SOME 198 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE BETWEEN THEM.
ONE BROTHER STAFF SGT, W H BARCLAY WAS THE FIRST ‘DCM’ WINNER IN THE 4TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT, IN 1915 AND HIS AWARD AND PHOTOGRAPH WERE REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 2ND NOVEMBER 1915. SYDNEY WAS ALSO A REGULAR SOLDIER WITH THE 2ND WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION, ON 19/12/1914, AGED 24. HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO ELIZABETH, AT 36 HENRY ROAD, CHELMSFORD (PENSION LEDGER ADDRESS)
HIS BROTHER, LANCE CORPORAL, THOMAS JAMES BARCLAY, 2ND WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT WAS KILLED ON 21ST NOVEMBER 1914, AGED 23. THEIR DEATHS AND PHOTOGRAPHS WERE REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 15TH JANUARY 1915. *
