William Macleod (27 October 1850 – 24 June 1929), was an Australian artist and a partner in '' The Bulletin''. He was described as generous, hospitable, a 'big man with a ponderous overhang of waistfront, a trim, grey beard, the curling moustachios of a

cuirassier Cuirassiers (; ) were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adoptin ...

, and brown, kindly eyes gleaming through his spectacles'.

Early life

Macleod was born in London. His father was of a

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

family and his mother Cornish/

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. The family emigrated to Australia in 1854 or 1855, drawn by the potential for riches from the Victorian goldrush, but Macleod's father died a year later. His mother moved to Sydney and was remarried to James Anderson, a portrait painter. Anderson's heavy drinking and the family's parlous financial state forced Macleod to find work at the age of 12. He found employment as an assistant to a professional photographer, and began studying at a school of the arts. His studies led to the production of a number of paintings and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

designs, and by the age of 17 Macleod was earning enough from commissions to purchase a home for his mother, away from her husband. For a time he also worked as a

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

master in schools.

Career

When Macleod was still in his early twenties he began contributing drawings to ''

The Sydney Mail ''The Sydney Mail'' was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. It was the weekly edition of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' newspaper and ran from 1860 to 1938. History ''The Sydney Mail'' was first published on 17 July 1860 by Joh ...

'', the ''Illustrated Sydney News'', the ''Town and Country Journal'' and others. He also obtained a reputation as a portrait painter whose work was hung at exhibitions of the Art Societies in both Sydney and Melbourne. For many years he was hardworking and successful. Lithographer at work, 1880

When '' The Bulletin'' started in 1880, he had a drawing in the first number and for the next two years was a regular contributor. Months after ''The Bulletin'' was launched, he and another artist, Samuel Begg, purchased a third share of the magazine, but relinquished it when the founders,

J. F. Archibald Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, baptised John Feltham Archibald, (14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919), Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of '' The Bulletin'' during the days of its greatest infl ...

and John Haynes were more financially secure. He then became one of the artists for the ''Picturesque Atlas of Australasia'' and did a large number of illustrations for it, including most of the portraits. When he was approaching the end of this work,

, who had been impressed by his business methods when a contributor to the ''Bulletin'', asked him to join the staff. He became business manager in September 1887, soon acquired an interest in the paper, and for nearly 40 years was actively engaged in the management of it. He also read all the proofs with a watchful eye for possible libel actions. At one period he owned 75% of the paper but, recognising the value of Archibald's work for it, he handed over to him 25% as a gift. He practically gave up working as an artist, but took a special interest in the cartoonists. His greatest discovery was cartoonist David Low. He published the literary magazine ''

The Bookfellow ''The Bookfellow'' was a monthly English-language journal published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The publication's focus was Australian literature and editions were often accompanied by illustrations. History ''The Bookfellow'' was pub ...

'' from January 1899 to May 1899 as an adjunct to ''The Bulletins "Red Pages".

Late life

In 1901, known as 'Mr Bulletin McLeod', he was the toastmaster at the send-off dinner at the

Hotel Australia The Hotel Australia was a former hotel in Melbourne, Australia. The hotel was built in 1939 on the site of the former Cafe Australia (which had opened in 1916), and was demolished in 1989. Designed by Leslie M. Perrott, the Hotel Australia was ...

to Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963). Ogilvie was one of ''The Bulletins stable of poets. Macleod took up painting again, became interested in sculpture, and did a good deal of modelling. This included by 'Mac' a side profile of close friend and ''The Bulletin'' cartoonist 'Hop' Hopkins. Recreationally he enjoyed

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

, being a founding member of one club and president for eight years, and president for seven years of another. In 1923, Macleod was a finalist in the third annual

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

, named for fellow ''Bulletin'' founder, along with G. W. Lambert and others. His subject was again close friend 'Hop' Hopkins. He was married twice; firstly to Emily Collins in 1873 (d. April 1910), and secondly in 1911 to author Agnes Conor O'Brien. In 1926 he retired from ''The Bulletin'', and died on 24 June 1929, aged 78, at his house 'Dunvegan', Musgrave Street,

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Macleod was survived by O'Brien, son Ronald Henry Macleod (d. 1941) and two daughters, Annie May and Amy Isabel Macleod, of the first marriage. Son Norman, aged 35, and daughter Ada, aged about 40, both died in 1919 from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. O'Brien died in March 1934 at Mosman.

References

Additional reading

* *B. G. Andrews,
Macleod, William (1850 - 1929)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 335–336. Additional resources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' *G. A. Taylor, ''Those Were the Days'' (Syd, 1918) *M. Mahood, ''The Loaded Line'' (Melb, 1973) *P. Rolfe, ''The Journalistic Javelin'' (Syd, 1979) *S. Lawson, ''The Archibald Paradox'' (Melb, 1983) *''Scottish Australasian'', 1 April 1911 *''Newspaper News'', 1 July 1929 *''Bowyang'', 7, 1982 *''Daily Telegraph'' (Sydney), 21 June 1924 *''Bulletin'', 26 June 1929 *manuscript catalogue under Macleod (State Library of New South Wales) {{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, William 1850 births 1929 deaths Australian businesspeople 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century Australian male artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Archibald Prize finalists British emigrants to colonial Australia Australian male painters