119808: Norman Macleod

Norman Macleod (1900-1965) was a son of Donald Smith Macleod and Kate Isles Rodger  Wylie and a twin of Margaret, Tarbat Manse, Portmahomack.

In the First World War he enlisted in the Black Watch and was sent to France where he lost one leg and the other was badly damaged.

On his discharge, Norman enrolled at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities’ combined  medical degree course. He graduated in 1928. He became a Ship’s Surgeon and in 1931 he was appointed Medical Officer to the Socfin Company’s Rubber Plantation at Bukit Rotan, Selangor, Malaysia.

At the Douglas Hotel, Blythswood, Glasgow, in 1934, he married Isabel Florence Russell from Glasgow. The couple returned to Malaysia and within five years Norman was widowed.

Norman boarded a ship in 1940 in Singapore to return to Scotland. He broke his journey to visit his twin, Margaret, in Cape Town. He arrived back in Scotland on SS Mentor. He had inherited Crossowen from his father but lived at 17 Brownlie Street, Glasgow and took up residence there. He practised as a Doctor specialising in the care of the disabled. Oral history relates that he was keen to practise Surgery but was not licensed due to his disability. Prosthetic Engineers designed a new artificial leg for Norman and he was permitted some surgical duties.

At Rutherglen, in 1941,he married Jessie Macphail Soutter from Glasgow. Norman and Jessie settled at 12 Marlborough Avenue, Glasgow.

Norman was widowed in 1949 and at Rosneath, in 1951, he married Helen Macdonald Duncan from Rosneath. Norman and Helen settled at 78 West King Street, Helensburgh.