Barclay, Jane.

Edinburgh, Scotland?, 16 Jul 1809.

According to RFS's note on back of David Sadler portrait, Jane Barclay was born in 1812 in Edinburgh Scotland. That would mean she was age 13 at the time of the Great Miramichi Fire (1825 -1812 = 13).

According to Ted Sadler's notes, the monument in Dalhousie says Jane was born July 16, 1809 and died Sept. 22, 1857. That would mean she was age 16 at the time of the Great Miramichi Fire (1825 -1809 = 16).

RSM's family register agrees with Ted's notes about Jane's year of birth although they say she was born on 15 July, not 16 July. They also say she was born in Miramichi,

"Jane Barclay, {wife of David Sadler}, daughter of William Barclay and Hellen Nowlans was born in Miramichi, 15th of July 1809."

Dalhousie, New Brunswick, 22 Sep 1857. Aged 48. obituary
buried Dalhousie, Riverside Cemetery, (St. John's Church Burying Ground) (Dalhousie Church Yard) - East side of Renfrew Street (Rt. 134)[that's the secondary road that runs along the coast].

William Barclay and Hellen Nowlands ?? (also possible Helen Newland) ??

The David Sadler bio says that Jane was the daughter of William Barclay, formerly of Scotland. There is no record of this William Barclay in the PANB's vital statitics database nor in the Daniel Johnson database (aside from a mention in the David Sadler obit as being Jane's father). There is no record of a Barclay in the New Brunswick Genealogical Society - Miramichi Branch "Obituary Database", nor the Miramichi Genealogy Forum, nor the tombstone transcription database. I didn't come across any William Barclay when I was viewing the 1851 Census of Canada, Chatham records.

Perhaps it is not surprising that I've been able to find so little on Jane Barclay's dad (or her mother for that matter), other than his name which appears in the David Sadler entry of the Dictionary of Miramichi Biography and the fact that he came from Scotland. According to my information from RFS, Jane was born in Edinburgh, Scotland so it's likely that William was born there, too. According to the 1851 census, Jane came to New Brunswick in 1822. In 1822, Jane was 13 years old so it would not be odd if she and her parents arrived in the same year. Of course, it's possible that William and / or his wife came over earlier and Jane travelled later.

According to Sadler lore, David Sadler, Jane Barclay and Jane's parents were trying to escape the Great Miramichi Fire in 1825 when their canoe overturned and Jane's parents were lost. [Question. Where were the Barclays living at the time of the fire, Newcastle, Chatham, Douglastown, elsewhere? I had assumed that on the day of the fire they were on the Newscastle side and heading for the Chatham side, but the reverse could have been true.] They might have been setting out from their home on one side of the river or the other. Alternately, perhaps they were just visiting that side of the river when the fire ignited and they had to evacuate. If it is true that William came to New Brunswick in 1822 and that he died in the 1825 fire, then he only spent three short years in the province, not much time to generate a paper trail.

David Saddler, Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 5 Jan 1826. wedding account

[copy of Register of Marriage, supplied by Ted Sadler]

According to RFS's note on back of David Sadler portrait, David and Jane lived at Rockheads, near Chatham (between Chatham and Loggieville).

• Francis Sadler
• Ann Sadler
• Helen Sadler
• Jane Sadler
• Margaret Sadler
• John Sadler
• William Sadler
• David Sadler, Jr.
• Robert Sadler
• Harriet Ann Sadler