Islay - Notable Natives

Notable Natives

• John Francis Campbell, authority on Celtic folklore and joint inventor of the Campbell–Stokes recorder. The son of Daniel Campbell of Shawfield, his father's bankruptcy prevented him inheriting the Islay estate. There is a monument commemorating him at Bridgend.
• Glenn Campbell, Scottish political reporter for the BBC, was brought up on Islay and attended Islay High School.
• Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat Deputy Chief Whip, was born on Islay to hill-farming parents. He has represented Orkney and Shetland at Westminster since 2001.
• The Islay-born Reverend Donald Caskie (1902–1983) became known as the "Tartan Pimpernel" for his exploits in France during World War II.
• John Crawfurd was born on Islay in 1783 and during a long career as a colonial administrator he became governor of Singapore. He also wrote a number of books including Journal of an Embassy from the Governor General of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China (1828).
• General Alexander McDougall, a figure in the American Revolution and the first president of the Bank of New York, was born in Kildalton in 1731.
• George Robertson, formerly secretary-general of NATO and British Defence Secretary. In 1999 he was made Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.
• Sir William Stewart (born 1935) steered a course from Bowmore junior school to become the UK government’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the late 1980s and early 1990s.