(3 Dec. 1827-18 Nov. 1886), clan chief. Born presumably in GC at his parents’ home of Dalcrombie near Williamstown. Parents: Hon. John McGillivray and his wife Isabella McLean. He received in 1848 a B. A. from Queen’s College (i.e., Queen’s University) being one of the college’s earliest graduates. On his father’s death in 1855, he inherited his claim to the family estates in Scotland and to the chiefship of the Clan MacGillivray, and succeeded within a few years in confirming the claims at law. In 1858 he married Catherine Macdonell, of Alexandria, GC. (children: at least four) Catherine Macdonell was the daughter of Angus MacDonell and his wife Mary Watson, and is said to have been the niece of Bishop Macdonell, the pioneer bishop of Upper Canada. Catherine Macdonell was a Gaelic speaker. Till 1870, when they moved to Montreal, Neil John and his family lived in GC, apparently west of Dalcrombie. About the 1870s, he built a fine new “lodge” or house on his Dunmaglass estate in Scotland. This house, enlarged by later owners, still exists. In 1880, Neil John and his family moved to Scotland. For the rest of his life, he lived on the Dunmaglass estate. After an episcopal service at Dunmaglass, he was buried at Dunlichty, the place of burial for the MacGillivrays of Dunmaglass. While in Canada, he had been a Presbyterian. Before his death, financial troubles, accentuated presumably by the depression which affected British agriculture in the late 19th century, weighed heavily upon him, and he had to sell part of his estates. His son John William McGillivray inherited, however, the Dunmaglass and Easter Aberchalder estates, and he became the next chief of the clan. Neil John McGillivray was the brother of George Hopper McGillivray and the uncle of Carrie Holmes MacGillivray.

     While living in Canada, he was active in local and national affairs. The Cornwall Freeholder, 5 Oct. 1866, published the speech, addressed to the farmers of Canada, of N. J. McGillivray, “retiring President of the Agricultural Association of Upper Canada.” Elected in 1866 to the board of trustees of Queen’s College (Witness 20 July 1866), he held the position till his death.

Robert McGillivray and George B. Macgillivray, A History of the Clan MacGillivray (1973) 53-55 * Mrs van Beek’s research (see notes to life of Hon. John McGillivray); I follow her on his marriage * his letters, also many refs. to him, in NAC-MD (these papers include material on the financial distress of his last years) * Dunmaglass (booklet, with colour illustrations, prepared c. 1987 for sale of this property; shows lodge built by Neil John; for fuller description of booklet, see Bibliography of Glengarry 153) * information from Queen's University Archives * his death reported, Cornwall Freeholder 26 Nov. 1886, cited DTL Standard Freeholder 25 Nov. 1944