Barclay was launched in New Bedford in October 1793 for William Rotch, Jr.1 It served as a whaler for over 50 years.

After about 20 of those years, Job Coffin was master when it left New Bedford on 14 July 1815 with John Briggs as a crewmember.2 Little has been found about the ship or crew while they were out. Most reports, from ships that had "spoken" either at sea or in port, place them at or off the west coast of South America during both trips that included Briggs. On the first trip they left Lima, Peru, for home about 7 August 1817, sailing with Globe of Nantucket for most of the trip. They arrived at New Bedford on 8 November 1817 with 1,950 barrels of oil.3 The ship was taken out again about 10 January 1818.4 On its arrival back on 13 October 1820, the New Bedford Mercury included references from the logbook to ships that were still out. From this it is known they left "Tongo Bay" in the South Pacific on 26 June, and it's likely this was their last port of call before returning to New Bedford. They were probably on the main island Tongatapu, a popular spot for whalers to "refresh."

crew list #1
crew list #2

1. 25 Oct 1795, Medley or New Bedford Marine Journal, 3.
2. crew lists, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region (Waltham, MA); 21 July 1815, New Bedford Mercury (hereafter NBM), 3, ship cleared within previous week.
3. NBM, 21 Nov 1817, 3.
4. crew lists, NARA, Northeast Region (Boston, MA); NBM, 16 Jan 1818, 3.