Sir Colville Barclay, 14th Baronet

Sir Colville Herbert Sanford Barclay, 14th Baronet (7 May 1913 – 1 September 2010) was a British naval officer, painter and botanist whose career spanned amphibious landings and commando operations off the coast of France during the Second World War, having his paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy, publishing reference works about the flora of Crete and taking commissions to obtain plant samples from across the world for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Background and education Barclay was born in London, the son of Sir Colville Adrian de Rune Barclay, a diplomat, and Sarita Ward, daughter of the sculptor and explorer Herbert Ward. He attended Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford where he studied PPE, taking courses part-time at the Ruskin School of Art. In 1930 he inherited the Barclay baronetcy after the death of his uncle, Sir Robert Barclay, 13th Baronet.

Career In 1937 Barclay joined the diplomatic corps before joining the RNVR in 1941 during the Second World War. He was deployed throughout the conflict in small boats operating in commando operations along the French coast, and left the Navy in 1946 as a lieutenant commander. Barclay was also an advocate of homeopathic medicine and spent forty years on the board of the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London.