Fergus MacCunn
Fergus MacCunn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 19 April 1890 |
| Died | 18 May 1941 (aged 51) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse |
Maude Annie Scott (m. 1918) |
Captain Fergus MacCunn (19 April 1890 – 18 May 1941) was a British animal welfare activist and chief secretary of the RSPCA.
Career
[edit]MacCunn was educated at a private school in Cranleigh, Surrey.[1] He served in the London and Scottish King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from 1914 to 1917.[2] He was severely injured in 1917.[2] E. Douglas Hume commented that "a bullet through the head put an end to his soldiering".[3]
MacCunn joined the RSPCA in 1910, became assistant secretary in 1924 and succeeded Edward G. Fairholme as chief secretary of the RSPCA in 1934.[4][3] He attended RSPCA meetings throughout Britain.[5]
In February 1926, MacCunn lectured at Birkbeck College where he requested to form a new animal welfare society.[6] His lecture was influential to C. W. Hume who founded the University of London Animal Welfare Society. He was the British delegate to Humane Association's 1935 convention in Washington.[1] He was an honorary member of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.[1] He organized the Finnish War Animals Fund during the Winter War in 1940 and re-opened the British Sick and Wounded Horses Fund.[1]
He suffered from heart trouble and died in 1941, aged 51.[4][7]
Family
[edit]MacCunn was the son of Hamish MacCunn and Alison Pettie.[1] He married Maude Annie Scott; they had one son, Robin.
Selected publications
[edit]- The Royal Family and the R.S.P.C.A. In Crown and Empire (1937)
- Country Friends (1938)
- Pets for Young People (with Wellesley Pain, 1938)
- Cats (1945)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Who Was Who, Volume 4. A. & C. Black. 1952. p. 720.
- ^ a b Oates, Jennifer L. (2016). Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916): A Musical Life. Taylor & Francis. p. 195. ISBN 978-1317124061.
- ^ a b Douglas Hume, Ethel (1939). The Mind-Changers. M. Joseph Limited. p. 178.
- ^ a b "The Late Captain Fergus MacCunn". The Oban Times. May 31, 1941. p. 2. (subscription required)
- ^ "Captain Fergus MacCunn" (PDF). The Teesdale Mercury. May 28, 1941. p. 8.
- ^ "News and Views" (PDF). Nature. 117 (2938): 278–282. 1926.
- ^ "R.S.P.C.A. Chief Secretary Dead". Somerset Country Herald. May 24, 1941. p. 2. (subscription required)
