Flora MacLeod of MacLeod

Dame
Flora MacLeod of MacLeod,
DBE

Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod (1934)
Born Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod
(1878-02-03)3 February 1878
10 Downing Street, London, England, UK
Died 4 November 1976(1976-11-04) (aged 98)
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting place Clan MacLeod burial ground, Kilmuir, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Residence Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Nationality British
Known for The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd
Spouse(s) Hubert Walter (m. 1901- 1933; his death)
Children 2
Parent(s) Sir Reginald MacLeod (father)
Relatives Stafford Northcote (grandfather)
Awards DBE

Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, DBE (3 February 1878 – 4 November 1976) was the 28th chief of Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle in Skye is the 800-year-old MacLeod family seat.

Early years

Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod was born at 10 Downing Street, London, in 1878, the home of her grandfather Sir Stafford Northcote, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer[1]

In 1901, she married Hubert Walter, a journalist at The Times, with whom she had two daughters, Joan, Mrs Wolrige-Gordon, and Alice MacLeod. Hubert Walter died in 1933.[2]

Her mother was Lady Agnes Mary Cecilia Northcote and her father, Sir Reginald MacLeod, became chief of the Clan MacLeod in 1929, she was elected President of the clan's society and went to live with her father at Dunvegan Castle in Skye, where she became a county councillor.

As the MacLeod clan chief

Widowed in 1933, and upon the death of her father in 1935, Flora MacLeod of MacLeod (as she would be thenceforth known) inherited the estate and was recognised as 28th Clan Chief. Years later, to raise income, she opened Dunvegan Castle to tourists, turning it into a popular tourist attraction.[3] Following World War II she travelled widely, establishing Clan MacLeod Societies throughout the British Commonwealth.

Death

She was created a DBE in 1953. She lived at Dunvegan Castle until 1973 before moving to Ythan Lodge in Aberdeenshire, where she died in 1976, aged 98. She is buried in the traditional Clan MacLeod burial ground at Kilmuir, near Dunvegan.[4]

Successor

John MacLeod of MacLeod (born John Wolrige-Gordon, 10 August 1935 — died 12 February 2007, aged 71) succeeded Dame Flora, his grandmother.[5]

Legacy

The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd has been presented, since 1969, to the best bagpiper at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina, USA. [6]

Ancestry

Coat of arms

Her coat of arms

Her coat of arms are described thus:

Shield
I and IV azure a castle triple towered and embattled argent masoned sable windowed and porched gules and II and III gules three legs in armour proper garnished and spurred Or flexed and conjoined in triangle at the upper part of the thigh.
Crest and mantle
Upon a torse Or and azure, A bull's head cabossed sable horned Or between two flags gules staves sable, the mantling azure double Or.
Supporters
Two lions reguardant gules armed and langued azure each holding a dagger proper

References

  1. ↑ Biodata, scran.ac.uk; accessed 29 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Hubert Walter". New York Times. 22 December 1933. p. 21. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Tours by Dame Flora MacLeod
  4. ↑ Profile, thepeerage.com; accessed 29 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Notice of death of John MacLeod of MacLeod, telegraph.co.uk; accessed 29 March 2016.
  6. ↑ The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd, clanmacleodusa.org; accessed 29 March 2016.

External links

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