Sir John Lorne MacLeod (20 October 1873 – 7 September 1946) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and public servant who served as

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

and

Lord-Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility o ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

from 1916 to 1919.

Life

MacLeod was born at

Inveraray Inveraray ( or ; meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Located on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, Inveraray is a former royal burgh and known affectionately as "The Capital of Argyll." It is the ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

, the son of John Macleod, prison governor of

Inveraray Jail Inveraray Jail is a former prison and courthouse in Church Square, Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was built in 1820 and is a Category A listed building. The prison closed in 1889 but the building remained in use as a courthouse until t ...

and his wife, Mary Mctavish of Tobermory.''Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950'' He studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and qualified as a solicitor in 1895. He practised as a partner in Whigham & MacLeod at 25 Albany Street and lived in a large Georgian townhouse at 72 Great King Street. He served as a member of

Edinburgh City Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

from 1905 to 1919, representing

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

Ward, and was City Treasurer from 1912 to 1914. In 1916 he succeeded Sir Robert Kirk Inches as Lord Provost.Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 10 September 1946 From 1925 until his death he was chairman of the

Scottish Life Assurance Company Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. He served as Food Commissioner for Scotland from 1920 to 1921 and was a member of the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

on Food Prices in 1924–1925. He was also chairman of the Consumers' Committees for both Scotland and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and from 1924 to 1929 served as chairman of the

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

Trade Board for Great Britain. He was chairman of the

General Nursing Council General Nursing Councils for England & Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (then one country and part of the United Kingdom) were established by three country specific Nurses Registration Act 1919, Nurses Registration Acts 1919. Each General Nursing C ...

for Scotland from 1921 until his death. Having already been

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, MacLeod was appointed

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(GBE) in the

1920 Birthday Honours The 1920 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

for his services as Lord Provost of Edinburgh during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. From 1933 to 1944 Sir John served as the tenth president of the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association, often subtitled Edinburgh Civic Trust, is an architectural, conservation, and urban planning monitoring organisation in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is one o ...

, the influential Edinburgh conservation organisation that was founded in 1875. He died on 7 September 1946 and was buried in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and o ...

. The currently (2019) toppled monument lies towards the west end of one of the main east-west paths north of the central vaults.

Family

His sister Phoebe married George Whigham (died 1909), who later became his business partner. Phoebe died at Woodbine Cottage in

Colinton Colinton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated southwest of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north-east. To the north-w ...

in 1925 and is buried with John in Warriston Cemetery.

Portrait

His full length portrait (in military uniform) by

George Fiddes Watt George Fiddes Watt (15 February 1873 – 22 November 1960) was a Scottish portrait painter and engraver. Biography Watt studied art at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen and the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. He was elected to the Royal Soci ...

is held at Edinburgh City Chambers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, John 1873 births 1946 deaths People from Argyll and Bute Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish solicitors Lord provosts of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Edinburgh Burials at Warriston Cemetery