Flora Macaulay (1859 - 1958) was a Scottish newspaper editor. She was editor of '' The Oban Times'' in

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

, Scotland.

Life

She was born Flora Anne Cameron, at 7 Lutton Place in Edinburgh. Her father was Duncan Cameron, who was associated with the printing and stationery firm of

Macniven and Cameron Macniven and Cameron Ltd., later known as Waverley Cameron Ltd., was a printing and stationery company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company was best known for its pen nibs, the "Pickwick", the "Owl", and the "Waverley", which were sold unde ...

of Edinburgh, Scotland and the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of the "Waverley" pen nib. Her mother was Mary Brown Small, a descendant of the Smalls of Dirnanean. Flora's younger sister was

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Mary Cameron. Her father bought the

Oban Times ''The Oban Times'' is a local, weekly newspaper, published in Oban, Argyll and Bute on a Thursday. It covers the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland, reporting on issues from the Mull of Kintyre to Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland, to the Inne ...

in 1882 and placed Flora's eldest brother as editor. Flora firstly married Robert Blair, a

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, on 29 October 1889. They originally lived in Glasgow but they relocated to Edinburgh when Blair got a position as minister of St John's Church. They then lived at 13 Lynedoch Place near Dean Bridge. In 1911, after the death of her first husband, Flora married Edinburgh policeman, George Macaulay. After her husband's retirement, the couple moved to Oban, where under the name Flora Macauley, she replaced her brother as editor of the Cameron family owned ''The Oban Times'' newspaper. Flora and her husband lived on the second floor of the Oban Times building, allowing Flora to be involved in every aspect of the paper's production. Her editorial style was very pro-Gaelic, including supporting Highland bagpipers and the ancient Scottish sport of shinty. In 1947 Flora established the Macaulay Cup for

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

. Flora remained involved with the management of the newspaper until her death at age 99. She died in Oban on 31 January 1958 but was buried with her first husband, Rev Blair, in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in west Edinburgh. The grave is marked by a highly ornate Celtic cross carved in grey granite by

Stewart McGlashan Stewart McGlashan or McGlashen(1807–1873) was a Scottish sculptor and mason, responsible for creating the company Stewart McGlashen (sic) which flourished from 1842 to 1974. He was responsible for devising a series of machines capable of cr ...

. The grave lies on the central path in the first norh extension.Grave of Rev Robert Blair, Dean Cemetery Her nephew, Alan Cameron, eventually succeeded her as editor.

References

1859 births 1959 deaths Scottish newspaper editors 19th-century Scottish newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century Scottish newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 19th-century British businesswomen 20th-century British businesswomen {{Editor-stub