| Surname: | Barclay de Tolly |
| Native Name Lang: | Баркла́й-де-То́лли |
| Caption: | Arms of Prince Barclay de Tolly |
| Country: | Russian Empire |
| Motto: | Верность и терпение ("Loyalty and patience") |
| Parent House: | Clan Barclay[1] |
| Titles: | Prince |
The Barclays de Tolly are a Baltic German noble family. They descend from Peter Barclay, a merchant from Banff in Scotland who emigrated to Rostock in 1621. Barclay was himself descended from the barons of Towie or Tollie in Aberdeenshire. His son, Johann Stephan Barclay, settled in Riga and became the ancestor of the Livonian branch of the family.[2]
Weinhold Gotthard Barclay (1734–1781), Johann Stephan's grandson, became a poruchik in the Russian Army and was the first of his family to be accepted into the Russian nobility. He was married to Margaretha Elisabeth von Smitten (1733–1771), and they had four sons: Emil Johann, a General in the Russian service; B. Michael Bogdanovitch; C. Andrei Bogdanovitch, a Colonel; and Michael Bogdanovitch (known as Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly), a very prominent military commander who was made a count in 1813 and a prince in 1815 by Alexander I of Russia.
After the extinction of the original princely line upon the death in 1871 of Prince Michael's son, Magnus, Alexander II of Russia allowed Prince Michael's sister's grandson (through female lineage), Alexander von Weymarn, to assume the title of Prince Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn in 1872.[3]
Josselson, M., & Josselson, D. (1980). The commander : a life of Barclay de Tolly. Oxford University Press.