Flora MacLeod of MacLeod

Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, DBE (3 February 1878 – 4 November 1976) was the 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod.

Dame

Flora MacLeod of MacLeod

DBE
MacLeod (1934)
Born
Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod

(1878-02-03)3 February 1878
10 Downing Street, London, England
Died4 November 1976(1976-11-04) (aged 98)
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting placeClan MacLeod burial ground, Kilmuir, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Known forThe Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd
TitleThe 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod
PredecessorReginald MacLeod of MacLeod (father)
SuccessorJohn MacLeod of MacLeod (grandson)
SpouseHubert Walter (m. 1901–1933)
Children
  • Joan
  • Alice
ParentSir Reginald MacLeod (father)
RelativesStafford Northcote (grandfather)
AwardsDBE

Biography

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] Her mother was Lady Agnes Mary Cecilia Northcote and her father, Sir Reginald MacLeod, became Chief of Clan MacLeod in 1929. She was elected President of the clan's society and went to live with her father at the 800-year-old family seat, Dunvegan Castle in Skye, where she became a county councillor for Bracadale.[2] In 1901, she married Hubert Walter, a journalist at The Times, with whom she had two daughters, Joan and Alice. Her husband, Hubert Walter, died in 1933.[3]

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 the 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod. Years later, to raise income, she opened Dunvegan Castle to tourists, turning it into a popular tourist attraction.[4] Following the Second World War, she travelled widely, establishing Clan MacLeod Societies throughout the British Commonwealth.

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.[5] Her grandson John MacLeod of MacLeod succeeded her.[6]

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.[7]

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. Kelly, John Davidson (2004). "MacLeod, Dame Flora Louisa Cecilia". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57013. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. "Hubert Walter". The New York Times. 22 December 1933. p. 21. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  4. "Tours by Dame Flora MacLeod". Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  5. Profile, thepeerage.com; accessed 29 March 2016.
  6. Notice of death of John MacLeod of MacLeod, telegraph.co.uk; accessed 29 March 2016.
  7. The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd Archived 10 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, clanmacleodusa.org; accessed 29 March 2016.
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