James Gillespie Barclay

The Honourable James Gillespie Barclay
16th Minister of Agriculture
In office 21 January 1941 – 18 October 1943
Preceded by	Lee Martin
Succeeded by	Ben Roberts
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Marsden
In office 27 November 1935 – 25 September 1943
Preceded by	Alfred Murdoch
Succeeded by	Alfred Murdoch
Personal details
Born	24 June 1882 Banks Peninsula, New Zealand
Died	5 October 1972 Christchurch, New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Relations	Bruce Barclay (son) Ron Barclay (nephew)

James Gillespie Barclay (24 June 1882 – 5 October 1972) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

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 1,600 acres (650 ha) near the Wairoa River. He sold his farm in 1931 and retired to Whangarei. He served on several local boards in Northland.

Barclay unsuccessfully stood against the Prime Minister, Gordon Coates, in the Kaipara electorate in the 1928 election. In the 1931 election, he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent in the Marsden electorate in Northland, Alfred Murdoch. He beat Murdoch in the 1935 election, 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.

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