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Flora MacLeod

Name
Flora MacLeod
First name
Flora
Last name
Macleod

Died August, 1780
Place of death
at Hope Park near Edinburgh
Gender
1
Alias
Flora Raasay
Flora Mure Campbell of Rowallan
Biography

Daughter of John MacLeod, 11th of Raasay, and Jane Macqueen. She married James Mure Campbell of Rowallan (1726-1786) but died in 1780 shortly after the birth of their only surviving child, also named Flora (1780-1840). James succeeded to the title of 5th Earl of Loudoun in 1782, but himself died in 1786, leaving behind the young Flora, then aged six, who became 6th Countess of Loudoun.

Life with Boswell

Boswell and Dr Johnson met Flora during their stay on Raasay in September 1773. Boswell described her as "an elegant woman (tall, genteel, a pretty face), sensible, polite, and good-humoured" and also noted that "[s]he alone [of the children of John MacLeod] has been at Edinburgh."

A few years later, on June 9, 1777, Boswell wrote to Johnson about the marriage between Flora and Colonel Mure Campbell, who had his own estate in Ayrshire:

You will rejoice to hear that Miss Macleod, of Rasay, is married to Colonel Mure Campbell, an excellent man, with a pretty good estate of his own, and the prospect of having the Earl of Loudoun's fortune and honours. Is not this a noble lot for our fair Hebridean? How happy am I that she is to be in Ayrshire. We shall have the Laird of Rasay, and old Malcolm, and I know not how many gallant Macleods, and bagpipes, &c. &c. at Auchinleck. Perhaps you may meet them all there.1

 

Janet MacLeod of Raasay

Name
Janet MacLeod
First name
Janet
Last name
MacLeod
Gender
1
Biography

Second wife of Malcolm Macleod (1695-1761), 10th of Raasay, with whom she had at least six sons and two daughers, including Charles MacLeod and Malcolm MacLeod (d. 1832), who became minister of Snizort. She was the daughter of a crofter tenant.2

According to tradition, she was "a flirtatiuous maidservant in Raasay House" with whom Malmcolm Macleod had contracted an irregular marriage, that was later legalised. Following his death, she was given a small house by the family's old seat in the village of Clachan.

Life with Boswell

Boswell met Janet MacLeod on Raasay on September 10, 1773, as he was taken to meet her at her house by her son Charles MacLeod. He described her as a "stout fresh-looking woman, very plainly dressed, [who] could not speak a word of English."

Charles MacLeod of Raasay

Name
Charles MacLeod
First name
Charles
Last name
MacLeod
Born 1750
Date of birth (prefix)
abt.
Place of birth
Raasay, Scotland
Gender
0
Biography

Son of Malcolm Macleod (1695-1761), 10th of Raasay, and his second wife Janet Macleod. Half-brother of John MacLeod, 11th of Raasay.

Life with Boswell

Boswell met Charles MacLeod while walking around the isle of Raasay on September 10, 1773. MacLeod took Boswell and his companions to visit his mother in her house next the old castle, and afterwards acoompanied them to the house of his half-brother, Boswell and Johnson's host on Raasay, John MacLeod. Boswell described him as a "strapping young fellow".

Norman MacLeod, MP - 23rd Chief of Clan MacLeod

Name
Norman MacLeod
First name
Norman
Last name
MacLeod
Born March 04, 1754
Place of birth
in Brodie House, Moray

Died April 16, 1801
Place of death
on Guernsey
Gender
0
Alias
23rd Chief of Clan Macleod
20th of Dunvegan
Biography

Son of John MacLeod (1730-1766) and Amelia Brodie (1730-1803). In 1772, he succeeded his grandfather, also named Norman (1705-1772) and nicknamed The Wicked Man. In addition to leaving him Dunvegan Castle and the chieftainship of Clan MacLeod, the elder MacLeod also left him with a sizable debt of about £50,000. He joined Fraser's Highlanders' 71st Regiment of Foot as a Captain in 1775 after growing weary of the situation on Skye and failing to pay off his debts. He spent several years serving in the East Indies, rapidly moving up the ranks until he was promoted to Major-General in 1794. In addition, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1790 and served as MP for Inverness-Shire from 1790 to 1796.

Following accusations of embezzelement in 1794, his latter years were beset by scandal. He gave up politics and turned to drinking before passing away in 1801 on the island of Guernsey.

 

 

Life with Boswell

Boswell and Dr Johnson first met MacLeod, who had recently become chief of his clan at the age of 17, as they arrived on Raasay.  

Lillian de la Torre

Full name
Lillian de la Torre
First name
Lillian
Last name
de la Torre
Born March 15, 1902
Died September 13, 1993
Biography

De la Torre was born in Manhattan in 1902. She received her associate's degree from the College of New Rochelle, before going to study 18th Century Studies at Columbia University and Radcliffe College (now a part of Harvard), from where she earned master's degrees.

Her first novel was Elizabeth Is Missing, or Truth Triumphant, published by Knopf in 1945. Her most popular works were the Dr. Sam: Johnson, Detector series of 33 detective stories that cast Samuel Johnson and James Boswell into Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson roles. This series, which de la Torre began in 1943 with The Great Seal of England, is one of the earliest examples of the historical mystery, a literary genre which combines historical fiction and the whodunit/detective story. She also wrote numerous books, short stories for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, reviews for The New York Times Book Review, poetry and plays. In 1955, she was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime for The Truth about Belle Gunness (1955).

De la Torre served as President of the Mystery Writers of America in 1979, and in 1980 she received the Medal of Distinction in the Fine Arts from the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

She died in 1993 at the age of 91. She was predeceased by her husband George McCue.

Related links
Biography of Lillian de la Torre (eNotes)

Hugh M. Milne

Full name
Hugh M. Milne
First name
Hugh
Last name
Milne
Biography

Milne studied Law at the University of Edinburgh, and afterwards worked as a solicitor in Scotland from 1977 to 2007. At the time of his retirement in 2011, he worked as a Strategic Leader in the Large Business Service of HM Revenue & Customs.

Boswellian impact

Milne is known for his research into Boswell's Edinburgh journals as well as for his thoroughly annotated editions of Boswell's legal papers, published in two volumes (2013 and 2016) by The Stair Society.

John Macqueen - Minister of Applecross

Name
John Macqueen
First name
John
Last name
Macqueen
Born 1750
Died July 30, 1831
Gender
0
Biography

Minister of Applecross. Son of the Donald Macqueen, Minister of Kilmuir. Married (1781) to Jane Macrae, daughter of Farquhar Macrae of Inverinate, with whom he had several children.

John Macqueen was educated at King's College, Aberdeen. He was ordained Minister of Applecross, a peninsula on the Scottish mainland opposite Skye and Raasay, on August 13, 1777.  

Life with Boswell

Boswell and Dr Johnson met Macqueen at Raasay on September 8, 1773. They had been accompanied to the island by his father, Donald Macqueen, earlier that same day.

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