Kenneth MacLeod was born in 1910, the son of Malcolm MacLeod and his wife Janet MacKay of 1/2 Ruisgarry (Sandhill). He attended Berneray School from 1915 to 1924, later moving onto Kingussie Higher Grade School.

He was in the merchant navy before transferring to the Royal Navy as a marine engineer. On leaving the Navy he joined the Standard Oil Company becoming chief engineer for oil exploration, based at Curaçao in the southern Caribbean.

Kenneth later returned to Scotland, becoming a hotelier at Wemyss Bay.

With his wife, Jean Young, he had a son.