John MacGregor (24 January 1825

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is ...

– 16 July 1892

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

, Bournemouth), nicknamed ''Rob Roy'' after a renowned relative, was an English explorer,

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern per ...

and philanthropist. He is generally credited with the development of the first sailing canoes and with popularising

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

as a sport in Europe and the United States. He founded the British

Royal Canoe Club The Royal Canoe Club (RCC), founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The club promotes canoeing and kayaking, focusing on flatwater, sprint and marathon disciplines. Members of the clu ...

(RCC) in 1866 becoming its first Captain and also founded

American Canoe Association The American Canoe Association (ACA) is the oldest and largest paddle sports organization in the United States, promoting canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. The ACA sponsors more than seven hundred events each year, along with safety education, ...

in 1880. MacGregor worked as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

in London, and was an accomplished artist who drew all the illustrations in his travel books. Captured on the Jordan by Arabs of Hooleh

Early life

MacGregor was born in

to Major Duncan MacGregor, a Scottish soldier, and Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir William Dick, Baronet of Prestonfield. When he was five weeks old, he was amongst the survivors of the sinking of the ''

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

''. His schooling followed his father's postings, and he attended The King's School in Canterbury and Trinity College in Dublin. He graduated from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, having shown a talent for mathematics. He was known by his peers for his strong Christian faith and although he had aspired to be a missionary and also considered civil engineering, his scientific interests led him to London to study for the Bar, specialising in patent law. During his time in the capital, he became heavily involved with philanthropy and was instrumental in launching the

Ragged School Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts. Ragged schools were intended for society's most destitute childre ...

movement's Shoeblack brigade. He also became involved with open air missions and was also able to follow his passion for travel. In 1849 he spent nine months exploring southern Europe, Palestine and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. He was introduced to canoeing during a trip to the United States and Canada in 1858.

Boat designer

MacGregor was a champion

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...

but turned to boating when a railway accident left him unable to hold a rifle steady. The boat he designed was a 'double-ended' kind of canoe inspired by the

Northern America Northern America is the northernmost subregion of North America. The boundaries may be drawn slightly differently. In one definition, it lies directly north of Middle America (including the Caribbean and Central America).Gonzalez, Joseph. 20 ...

kayaks A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

, but built in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

lapstrake Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull plank. The techni ...

oak planking, decked in cedar covered with rubberised canvas with an open cockpit in the center. It measured 15 feet long, 28 inches wide, nine inches deep and weighed 80 pounds (36 kg) and was designed to be used with a double-bladed paddle. He named the boat ''Rob Roy'' after the celebrated Scottish outlaw of the same name, to whom he was related. During the 1860s, he had at least seven similar boats built and he sailed and paddled them in Europe, the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and the Middle East. One of those canoes is now based at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. The version he used for his expedition to Egypt, Syria and Palestine in 1868/69 was slightly smaller but was designed so that he could sleep in it. He was accompanied by a dragoman, Hany, and two retainers who maintained the various base camps on the journey. He visited the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to ...

, the rivers of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, as well as parts of the

River Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

and

Kishon River The Kishon River ( he, נחל הקישון, ; ar, نهر المقطع, , or , – ''the river of slaughter'' or ''dismemberment''; alternative Arabic, ) is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea near the city of Haifa. Cou ...

. Whilst exploring the water courses above

Lake Hula A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

he was taken prisoner by villagers from Al-Salihiyya who lifted both him and the Rob Roy canoe out of the river whilst he kept them at bay with his paddle. He was responsible for the first scientific survey of the area.

Writings

In 1866, he published ''A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe'', which popularised the design and, more importantly, the concept: ''"in walking you are bounded by every sea and river, and in a common sailing-boat you are bounded by every shallow and shore; whereas, ...a canoe anbe paddled or sailed, or hauled, or carried over land or water"''. The book was internationally successful; with subsequent books and public appearances, it earned MacGregor more than ten thousand pounds. Scottish author

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's 1876 voyage by canoe through the canals and rivers of France and Belgium, published in 1878 as ''

An Inland Voyage ''An Inland Voyage'' (1878) is a travelogue by Robert Louis Stevenson about a canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. It is Stevenson's earliest book and a pioneering work of outdoor literature. As a young man, Stevenson desired ...

'', used "Rob Roy" canoes. Rob Roy Map V p

Death

Died 16 July 1892 in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

.A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5 (1912), pp. 133–37

Published works

*''Three Days in the East, or the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and the Dessert'' - Illustrating more than 100 Scripture Texts; with Woodcuts (1850) *''The Language of Specifications of Letters Patent for Inventions'' (1856) - A Treatise on that Department of Patent Law which relates to the framing of Specifications, and to the Decisions concerning their Language, with the important Cases, down to June 1856. *''The Law of Reformatories'' (1856) - A Handbook of the Reformatories of Great Britain and Ireland, with the regulations of the Privy Council, Poor Laws, &c., and the Statutes relating to the subject. *''Ragged Schools: their Rise, Progress, and Results'' *''Popery in A.D. 1900'' *''The Ascent of Mont Blanc'' - With four views printed in oil colours, illustrating the ascent of the mountain by Messrs. MacGregor and Shuldham, when Mr. Albert Smith revisited the Grand Mulets, together with Lord Killeen, Col. De Bathe, Mr. W. Russell (of the Times), and Messrs. Burrowes and Fanshawe. *''Eastern Music'' - About 20 airs, from Greece, Turkey, Palestine and Egypt, with accompaniments, description, and anastatic sketches. *''Go Out Quickly into the Streets and Lanes of the City'' - A tract on open air preaching. *''Our Brothers and Cousins: A Summer Tour in Canada and the States'' (1859) *''A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe'' (1866) *''The Voyage Alone In The Yawl 'Rob Roy (1867) *''The Rob Roy on the Baltic'' (1867) *''The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red sea, & Gennesareth, &c'' (1869)

References

External links

* *
''Our Brothers and Cousins: A Summer Tour in Canada and the States''
London, Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, 1859. First edition, illustrated. From

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

.
''A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe''
London: S. Low and Marston, 1866. First edition, illustrated. From

.
''A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe''
text.

from ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine'', 1867.
''The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red sea, & Gennesareth, &c''
London: John Murray, Albemarle Street 1874. Fourth edition, illustrated. From

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

.
''The Voyage Alone In The Yawl 'Rob Roy
London: S. Low and Marston, 1880. Fourth edition, illustrated. From

. * * Hodder, Edwin (1894)
''John MacGregor''
a biography. London Hodder Bros. From

.
''John MacGregor: A Victorian-era Paddler''
Sea Kayaker Magazine 1999 by Brian Kologe
National Maritime Museum Cornwall

The Open-Air Mission

''John MacGregor ("Rob Roy"): Explorer, Philanthropist and Sportsman (1825-1892)''
From www.simonwenham.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macgregor, John 1825 births 1892 deaths English barristers Scottish male canoeists Scottish sportswriters Scottish environmentalists Scottish inventors Scottish travel writers Scottish lawyers Scottish naturalists Scottish explorers Scottish philanthropists Scottish male sport shooters Members of the London School Board Palestinologists Holy Land travellers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 19th-century English lawyers 19th-century British philanthropists British male sport shooters