Robert Barclay (1712-1771)
of "Woodford"; Collector of Customs for Philadelphia & Comptroller of the Port
He was born in England to a wealthy Quaker family. His father, David, was a prominent banker and two of his cousins founded Barclay’s Bank, which continues on to this day in the U.K. His grandfather, Robert Barclay of Ury "The Apologist", was a prominent Quaker theologian. He began his career as an officer in the British Army, but after resigning his commission led a dissolute life in London, devouring most of his inheritance and fathering a child out of wedlock. Running short of funds, he came out to Philadelphia, heading up a new branch of his uncle's trading business. In 1759, he married the widowed Mrs. Rebecca (Evans) Robertson and succeeded his father-in-law as Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, responsible for enforcing the hated Sugar and Stamp Acts for the British Parliament. He lived in Philadelphia and purchased "Woodford" (see images) as a summer home, far from the docks of the Delaware River.
