Honorific Prefix: | Dame |
Flora MacLeod of MacLeod | |
Birth Name: | Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod |
Birth Date: | 3 February 1878 |
Birth Place: | 10 Downing Street, London, England |
Death Place: | Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
Resting Place: | Clan MacLeod burial ground, Kilmuir, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Scotland |
Nationality: | British |
Spouse: | Hubert Walter (m. 1901–1933) |
Parents: | Sir Reginald MacLeod (father) |
Relatives: | Stafford Northcote (grandfather) |
Known For: | The Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod Trophy for Open Piobaireachd |
The 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod | |
Predecessor: | Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod (father) |
Successor: | John MacLeod of MacLeod (grandson) |
Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, (3 February 1878 – 4 November 1976) was the 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod.
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 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]
Her coat of arms are described thus: