Hotelier, ski hill developer.
Born at Almonte, Lanark County, Ontario on 16 May 1877, daughter of James Burns and Janet Arnott, she came to Manitoba in 1887 and settled at Wood Bay. On 22 July 1897, she married farmer Alexander McKenzie Barclay (1869-1939) of La Riviere, at Winnipeg. They had four children: Florance Beatrice Barclay (1899-1984, wife of David Clarence Morrow), James Alexander Burns “Jim” Barclay (1902-1981), Ethel Margaret Baird Barclay (1911-1996, wife of David S. Later and George Davidson), and Ida Jean Bernice Barclay (1913-1974).
After divorcing her husband, she moved to La Riviere late in 1914. The next year, she bought the Valley Hotel. For many years, it was known as the Barclay House and, after her death, it was operated by her daughters Ethel and Bernice until being sold in 1974.
She was instrumental in developing ski hills at La Riviere after being approached, in 1935, by a group of young people from Winnipeg. She agreed to finance the cutting of the first ski slides on the hills facing north of the CPR station. The first ski trains started around 1933 and, in 1934-1935, a special ski train ran from Winnipeg every second Sunday during the winter, carrying as many as 800 to 1000 people to the LaRiviere slopes. Skiing continued at this location until 1959.
She died at Morden on 26 December 1935 and was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery at Pilot Mound. Following her death, the Ida V. Barclay Memorial Trophy was donated by W. A. Mather of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: La Riviere Ski Slopes (La Riviere, RM of Pembina)
Birth registrations [Florence J Beatrice Barclay, James Alexander Burns Barclay, Ethel Margaret Baird Barclay, Ida Jean Bernice Barclay], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Marriage registration [Florence Beatrice Barclay, David Clarence Morrow], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Ida Virinia Barclay, Alexander McKenzie Barclay], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Ida Jean Bernice Barclay], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 April 1975, page 37.
Obituary [James Alexander B. Barclay], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 June 1981, page 60.
Obituary [Florance Beatrice Morrow], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 1984, page 42.
Obituary [Ethel Margaret Davidson], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 September 1996, page 52.
We thank Nels Bremner for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 September 2025
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