Sir Malcolm MacGregor
(1834-1879)

Volume 1, page 153, sitting number 815.

Born on 29 August 1834, Malcolm MacGregor was the son of Sir John Athol Bannatyne MacGregor and his wife Mary Charlotte (née Hardy). He married Lady Helen Laura McDonnell, daughter Hugh Seymour McDonnell, 4th Earl of Antrim. [Her portrait by Silvy, taken prior to her marriage, appears opposite.]

MacGregor succeeded his father in 1851, becoming 4th Baronet MacGregor and the 21st Chief of Clan MacGregor. He gained the rank of Rear-Admiral in the service of the Royal Navy.

Rear-Admiral Sir Malcolm MacGregor died on 31 August 1879.

An obituary appeared in the Dundee Evening Telegraph (1 September 1879). 'We regret to announce the death of Rear Admiral Sir Malcolm MacGregor, Bart., Chief of the Clan MacGregor, which took place suddenly and unexpectedly at Edinchip, the residence of Sir Malcolm, some time yesterday morning. He had been ailing for some considerable time, and was found dead in bed. He was born in 1834, and has died at the comparatively early age of 45. The intelligence of the Baronet's death has caused a gloom of sorrow and regret over the whole neighbourhood where he was well known and highly respected. [...] He entered the Royal Navy in 1847 when he was only thirteen years of age, and obtained rapid promotion. [...] Last year he became a rear-admiral on the retired list. While in the navy he served in the Russian war and received the Crimean medal and clasp, and also the Turkish war medal. In 1869 the gallant Baronet was awarded a medal by the Royal Humane Society for saving the life of a seaman in Lagos Roads, West Coast of Africa, in the previous year. [...] The deceased Baronet was a Commissioner of Supply and Justice of the Peace in the county of Perth. He married in 1864 Lady Helen Laura M'Donnell, daughter of the seventh Earl of Antrim, and is survived by her and two sons and three daughters. [...] He was Chairman of the School and Parochial Boards, where his courtesy as well his superior intelligence and sound judgment won for him the just esteem of his fellow members. As a landlord and country gentleman few had such a hold on the affections of the people, and his tall, stately form and gentlemanly bearing will not quickly be forgotten.'