Sir John Greig Dunbar, DL, JP (19 September 1906 – 4 January 1978) was a Scottish businessman and Conservative politician who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1960 to 1963.

Life

Dunbar was born at Elgin House near the top of Easter Road in north-east Edinburgh, the son of James Dunbar. The lemonade company his father owned had relocated from Maryfield/East Norton Place to Albion Road around 1900. The firm made fruit squashes (including a drink from the

kola nut The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola ...

), ginger beer and sodas. Dunbar was joint Director and owner (with his brother Dr Alexander Dunbar) of James Dunbar Ltd. His cousins owned the parallel company of Dunbar and Co. on the Pleasance. The factory gave its name to the "Dunbar End" at

Easter Road Stadium Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

. Dunbar became councillor for the Calton ward in the 1950s. He was elected Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1960 in succession to Ian Anderson Johnson-Gilbert. Dunbar was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in the

1962 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1962 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

List. He was host to both the Queen and King

Olav V of Norway Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

during his time as Lord Provost. His time as Lord Provost was dominated by major planning decisions (typical of all cities at that time), including the decision to clear St James Square to create the St. James Centre and promotion of the

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

Plan which resulted in the loss of many important historic buildings. Dunbar was succeeded as Lord Provost by Duncan Weatherstone in 1963.

Family

His son was named Greig Dunbar.

Death

John Greig Dunbar died on 4 January 1978, at the age of 71.

Artistic recognition

Dunbar was portrayed in his ceremonial robes by David Donaldson in 1963. The portrait is held by Edinburgh City Art Centre but is rarely displayed.

External links

John Greig Dunbar meeting the Queen https://www.britishpathe.com/video/queen-in-scotland-1/query/Greig

References

1906 births 1978 deaths Knights Bachelor Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Politicians from Edinburgh Scottish businesspeople Scottish justices of the peace {{Scotland-bio-stub