Biography
John MacLeod of MacLeod was born as John Wolrige-Gordon in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, on 10 August 1935. He was the elder of the twin sons of Captain Robert Wolrige-Gordon, MC and his wife Joan Walter. His younger twin brother, Patrick Wolrige-Gordon, would later become a Tory Member of Parliament. The twins had an older brother, Robert Wolrige-Gordon, who would later succeed his father as the 21st laird of Hallhead, 10th feudal baron of Esslemont.
Joan Walter's mother was the daughter of Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod, the 28th chief of Clan MacLeod. John Wolrige-Gordon was educated at Eton, in England; McGill University, in Canada; and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, in England. After National Service in the Black Watch Regiment, he started a career in acting and singing. He was named heir to his grandmother in 1951, changed his surname to MacLeod of MacLeod, and was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as John MacLeod of MacLeod, Younger. He matriculated arms at Lyon Office in 1962. He later succeeded as chief of Clan MacLeod in 1976.
In 2000, faced with the high cost of repairs to Dunvegan Castle, his clan's seat for more than 800 years, he put the Black Cuillin range in Skye on the market for £10 million. With the proceeds of the sale, he also planned to build an 80-bedroom hotel on his Skye estate. The planned sale caused outrage at the time and was never completed.
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