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
Died	4 November 1976(1976-11-04) (aged 98) Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting place	Clan MacLeod burial ground, Kilmuir, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Nationality	British
Known for	The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd
Title	The 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod
Predecessor	Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod (father)
Successor	John MacLeod of MacLeod (grandson)
Spouse	Hubert Walter (m. 1901–1933)
Children	Joan Alice
Parent	Sir Reginald MacLeod (father)
Relatives	Stafford Northcote (grandfather)
Awards	DBE

Painting of Flora 28th Chief of MacLeod in Dunvegan Castle

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

Ancestors of Flora MacLeod of MacLeod

16. Lt-Gen. Norman MacLeod, 23rd of MacLeod 8. John Norman MacLeod, 24th of MacLeod, MP 17. Sarah Stackhouse 4. Norman MacLeod, 25th of MacLeod 18. John Stephenson, of Kent 9. Anne Stephenson 19. Mary Broadley 2. Sir Reginald MacLeod, 27th of MacLeod, KCB 20. John St. John, 12th Baron St. John of Bletso 10. St. Andrew St. John, 14th Baron St. John of Bletso, MP 21. Susanne Louise Simond 5. The Hon. Louisa Barbara St. John 22. Sir Charles William Rouse Boughton, 1st and 9th Bt. 11. Louisa Rouse Boughton 23. Catherine Pearce 1. Dame Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod, 28th of MacLeod, DBE 24. Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, 7th Bt. 12. Henry Stafford Northcote 25. Jacquetta Baring 6. Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh 26. Thomas Cockburn, EIC 13. Agnes Mary Cockburn 27. Henrietta Colebrooke 3. Lady Agnes Mary Cecilia Northcote 28. James Farrer 14. Thomas Farrer 29. Frances Loxham 7. Cecilia Frances Farrer, CI 30. Richard Willis of Halsnead Hall 15. Cecilia Willis 31. Cicely Feilden

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