(3 Feb. 1878-4 Nov. 1976), clan chief. Born in Downing Street, London. Parents: Sir Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod, who was the 27th chief of Clan MacLeod, and his wife Agnes, who was the daughter of Sir Stafford Northcote, an eminent late Victorian political figure who at the time of Flora’s birth was chancellor of the exchequer. Flora married (1901) Hubert Walter, the son of a principal proprietor of the London Times. In 1935 Flora, who had by then resumed her maiden name of MacLeod, succeeded her father as clan chief and owner of Dunvegan Castle and other properties on the isle of Skye. It was, of course, a new and startling idea for a woman to be a clan chief. Flora, a brilliant publicist with a strong personality, performed the role splendidly. A great traveller, she attempted to link MacLeods through the world by an awakened awareness of their past. The fact that she was omitted from the Dictionary of National Biography but was included in its successor, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, suggests that her reputation is on the rise, and that she is seen as someone whose memory will “last.” She died, aged 98, in Aberdeenshire. She visited GC in 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1961, for several days on each occasion.

     During the first two visits, she was accompanied by her twin grandsons (b. 10 Aug. 1935). One of these, John, the elder of the two by a portion of an hour, changed his surname from Wolrige-Gordon to MacLeod in 1951, and succeeding his grandmother on her death, became the 29th chief of the clan. As a young man he studied at McGill University. During the years 2000-2003, he aroused criticism by his attempts to sell the Black Cuillins, badly needing the money to pay for repairs to the deteriorating Dunvegan Castle. He visited GC at least once after the death of his grandmother. (Glengarry News 28 Aug. 1996, portrait) He died 12 Feb. 2007, and was succeeded by his son the 30th chief. The other of the twin grandsons, Patrick Wolrige-Gordon (d. 2002), was a Conservative MP in the British Parliament, and an activist for the Moral Re-Armament cause.

ODict * visits to Glengarry: narrative of in MacLeods, i & ii; see also Glengarry News, e. g., 27 Oct. 1955 * obituaries (with portraits) of twins, Daily Telegraph [London, Eng.] 28 May 2002, 15 Feb. 2007 * proposed Cuillins sale, same newspaper 17 June 2002, 23 Jan. 2006, with portraits * The Shell Guide to Scotland (1967) 150 has a note defining the Black Cuillins.