Bruce Barclay

Bruce Gillespie Barclay (21 October 1922 – 28 June 1979) was a New Zealand politician, being the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central in the South Island.

Biography Early life and career Barclay was born in 1922 in Dargaville. He received his education at Whangarei High School while his father was working as a farming manager. Barclay was an active sportsman in his youth and represented South Canterbury in rugby (1942–1944) and tennis in the 1943, 1945, 1946 seasons.

From 1941 to 1951 Barclay was an agriculture instructor at the then Department of Agriculture in Timaru. Then for two years he was employed by the Valuation Department office in Timaru working between the Ashburton and Waitaki rivers. In 1953 he took up a 50 acre town milk supply farm at Halswell. In 1956 he was appointed a director of the Canterbury Dairy Farmers, Ltd. and was elected as deputy chairman of the board in 1966. He was later promoted further and was additionally Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries after Moyle resigned from parliament.

Death Barclay had been ill for some months prior to his death where it was reported he was suffering from cancer and had already had two surgical operations. His absence was noticed at Labour's first caucus meeting in February 1979 and Rowling stated he had visited Barclay earlier and expressed concern at his health after Barclay had become unable to perform his electorate duties earlier in the month. Barclay died on 28 June 1979 aged 56, survived by his wife and three children.

Family He was the son of Jim Barclay (1882–1972), a farmer, MP for Marsden (1935-1943) and Minister of Agriculture between 1941 and 1943. A contemporary Labour MP Ron Barclay was his cousin. He played golf for recreation.

His second marriage was on 2 November 1968 to Ethel Audrey Howe, the daughter of G. Howe. They had one son and two daughters. Towards the end of his life, he lived in Tancred Street in the Christchurch suburb of Linwood. His widowed wife Audrey was elected a member of the Christchurch City Council for the Eastern Ward in 1980.