John McNeill (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Sir John McNeill, GCB, PC
, FRSE, FRAS
(1795 –1883) was a Scottish surgeon and diplomat.
. He was the third of the six sons of John McNeill, laird
of Colonsay
and Oronsay
(1767–1846) and his wife, Hester née McNeill (died 1843), and the younger brother of the judge Duncan McNeill, 1st Baron Colonsay and Oronsay.
at the University of Edinburgh
, where he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine
in 1814, at the age of nineteen.
He was attached to the field force under Colonel East in Kutch and Okamundel in 1818–19 and was afterwards deputy medical storekeeper at the presidency.
On 30 June 1835, he was appointed secretary of the special embassy sent to Tehran
under Henry Ellis to congratulate Mohammad Shah Qajar
on his accession to the Persian throne. McNeill received permission to wear the Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun
of the first class, and on his return home in the spring of 1836, he anonymously published a startling anti-Russia
n pamphlet, Progress and Present Position of Russia in the East.
From 1836 to 1844, McNeill was any envoy to Persia.
and Western Isles, during which he personally inspected twenty-seven of the most distressed parish
es.
in 1854, McNeill published revised editions in French
and English
of his pamphlet Progress and Present Position of Russia in the East, with supplementary chapters dealing with the progress of events since 1836, and insisting on the importance to Britain and to Christendom
of the autonomy of Turkey
and Persia.
At the beginning of 1855, when the Crimean disasters had roused public indignation, McNeill and Colonel Alexander Tulloch
, an officer of great administrative experience at the War Office
, were sent to the Crimea with instructions to report on the whole arrangements and management of the commissariat
and the method of keeping accounts, and to the causes of the delays in unloading and distributing clothing and other stores sent to Balaklava
.
The commissioners started at once for the seat of war. They took no shorthand
writer with them, as the remuneration sanctioned by the Treasury
was insufficient to secure a qualified person.
The McNeill–Tulloch inquiry was the most effective of the various inquisitions into the Crimean débâcle. It sharply criticised Lord Raglan's
personal staff in the Crimea and Commissary-General Filder, and it led to many recriminations as officers sought to clear their names when the report was published in 1856. A board of general officers was convened to clear the army, but despite its protestations, the McNeill–Tulloch report led to professional reform of the commissariat by the Royal Warrant
of October 1858.
Very unusually, the Commons
, irritated by executive obfuscation, passed a resolution in 1857 calling for special honours and McNeill soon became a Privy Councillor
and Tulloch was appointed a KCB
. The University of Oxford
made McNeill a Doctor of Civil Law
and the University of Edinburgh chose him as chairman of its amalgamated societies; his inaugural address on competitive examinations was published in 1861.
, Midlothian
— she died in 1816; second, in 1823, Eliza, third daughter of John Wilson — she died in 1868; third, in 1871, Lady Emma Augusta Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll
.
McNeill was the brother-in law (by his 2nd marriage) of the author John Wilson
, and (by his 3rd marriage) of George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
.
McNeill died at Poralto, Cannes
, France, on 17 May 1883.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, FRSE, FRAS
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...
(1795 –1883) was a Scottish surgeon and diplomat.
Early life
McNeill was born at Oronsay House, ArgyllArgyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
. He was the third of the six sons of John McNeill, laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
of Colonsay
Colonsay
Colonsay is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, located north of Islay and south of Mull and has an area of . It is the ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeill. Aligned on a south-west to north-east axis, it measures in length and reaches at its widest...
and Oronsay
Oronsay
This is a list of islands called Oronsay , which provides an index for islands in Scotland with this and similar names. It is one of the more common names for Scottish islands. The names come from Örfirisey which translates from Old Norse as "tidal" or "ebb island"...
(1767–1846) and his wife, Hester née McNeill (died 1843), and the younger brother of the judge Duncan McNeill, 1st Baron Colonsay and Oronsay.
Education
He studied medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, where he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1814, at the age of nineteen.
India
On 6 September 1816 he was appointed assistant surgeon on the Honourable East India Company's Bombay establishment; he became a surgeon on 1 May 1824 and retired from the medical service on 4 June 1836.He was attached to the field force under Colonel East in Kutch and Okamundel in 1818–19 and was afterwards deputy medical storekeeper at the presidency.
Persia
From 1824 to 1835, he was attached to the East India Company's legation in Persia, at first in medical charge, and latterly as political assistant to the Minister, John Macdonald Kinneir, in which post he displayed great ability.On 30 June 1835, he was appointed secretary of the special embassy sent to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
under Henry Ellis to congratulate Mohammad Shah Qajar
Mohammad Shah Qajar
Mohammad Shah Qajar was king of Persia from the Qajar dynasty .- Rise to power :...
on his accession to the Persian throne. McNeill received permission to wear the Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun
Order of the Lion and the Sun
The Order of the Lion and the Sun was instituted by Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar Dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials who had rendered distinguished services to Persia. In 1925, under the Pahlavi dynasty the Order continued as the Order of Homayoun with new insignia, though based on the...
of the first class, and on his return home in the spring of 1836, he anonymously published a startling anti-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n pamphlet, Progress and Present Position of Russia in the East.
From 1836 to 1844, McNeill was any envoy to Persia.
Scotland
In 1845, McNeill was appointed chairman of the Board of Supervision, entrusted with the working of the new Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845, a post he occupied for thirty-three years. During the Highland Potato Famine — nearly as disastrous as the Irish Potato Famine — he conducted a special inquiry into the condition of the western Scottish HighlandsScottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and Western Isles, during which he personally inspected twenty-seven of the most distressed parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es.
Crimean War
At the outbreak the Crimean WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
in 1854, McNeill published revised editions in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
of his pamphlet Progress and Present Position of Russia in the East, with supplementary chapters dealing with the progress of events since 1836, and insisting on the importance to Britain and to Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
of the autonomy of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Persia.
At the beginning of 1855, when the Crimean disasters had roused public indignation, McNeill and Colonel Alexander Tulloch
Alexander Tulloch
Major-General Sir Alexander Tulloch K.C.B. was a British soldier and a statistician. He was a Fellow of the Statistical Society and worked with Surgeon-General Henry Marshall and Sir Graham Balfour on army statistics. In the 1850s he went with Sir John McNeill to the Crimea, and worked with...
, an officer of great administrative experience at the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, were sent to the Crimea with instructions to report on the whole arrangements and management of the commissariat
Commissariat
A commissariat is the department of an army charged with the provision of supplies, both food and forage, for the troops. The supply of military stores such as ammunition is not included in the duties of a commissariat. In almost every army the duties of transport and supply are performed by the...
and the method of keeping accounts, and to the causes of the delays in unloading and distributing clothing and other stores sent to Balaklava
Balaklava
Balaklava is a former city on the Crimean peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol which carries a special administrative status in Ukraine. It was a city in its own right until 1957 when it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government...
.
The commissioners started at once for the seat of war. They took no shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
writer with them, as the remuneration sanctioned by the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
was insufficient to secure a qualified person.
The McNeill–Tulloch inquiry was the most effective of the various inquisitions into the Crimean débâcle. It sharply criticised Lord Raglan's
FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan
Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC , known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British soldier.-Early life:...
personal staff in the Crimea and Commissary-General Filder, and it led to many recriminations as officers sought to clear their names when the report was published in 1856. A board of general officers was convened to clear the army, but despite its protestations, the McNeill–Tulloch report led to professional reform of the commissariat by the Royal Warrant
Royal Warrant
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...
of October 1858.
Very unusually, the Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, irritated by executive obfuscation, passed a resolution in 1857 calling for special honours and McNeill soon became a Privy Councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
and Tulloch was appointed a KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. The University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
made McNeill a Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
and the University of Edinburgh chose him as chairman of its amalgamated societies; his inaugural address on competitive examinations was published in 1861.
Personal life
McNeill married, first, in 1814, Innes, fourth daughter of George Robinson of ClermistonClermiston
Clermiston is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, to the north of Clerwood and west of Corstorphine Hill.Clermiston estate, built in 1954, was part of a major 1950s house-building programme to tackle overcrowding in Leith and Gorgie...
, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
— she died in 1816; second, in 1823, Eliza, third daughter of John Wilson — she died in 1868; third, in 1871, Lady Emma Augusta Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll
John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll
-External links:...
.
McNeill was the brother-in law (by his 2nd marriage) of the author John Wilson
John Wilson (Scottish writer)
John Wilson of Ellerey FRSE was a Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine....
, and (by his 3rd marriage) of George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll
George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll KG, KT, PC, FRS, FRSE , styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847, was a Scottish peer, Liberal politician as well as a writer on science, religion, and the politics of the 19th century.-Background:Argyll was born at Ardencaple Castle, Dunbartonshire, the...
.
McNeill died at Poralto, Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, France, on 17 May 1883.