IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 MCG
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Macgregor, John (1825-1892)
Date(s): [1827]-1883
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1 box
Name of creator(s): Macgregor | John | 1825-1892 | canoeist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
As an infant, MacGregor was saved from the Indiaman, KENT, which caught fire in the Bay of Biscay in 1825. He was well known as Rob Roy MacGregor because of his pioneering zeal while travelling in his canoe, the Rob Roy. This was first launched in 1865 and he navigated a network of rivers, canals and lakes, including the Rhine, Danube and Seine and Lakes Constance, Zurich and Lucerne. His most demanding voyage was in 1868 when he went through the Suez Canal down to the Red Sea and from thence to Palestine, navigating the Jordan and Lake Gennesareth. He published ' A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe' (London, 1866), 'A voyage alone in the Yawl Rob Roy' (London, 1867), 'The Rob Roy on the Baltic' (London, 1867) and 'The Rob Roy on the Jordan Red Sea and Gennesareth' (London, 1869). See also Edwin Hodder, 'John MacGregor ('Rob Roy')' (London, 1894).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of John Macgregor, consisting of a letter from MacGregor's father, one in verse from Hannah More (1745-1833) and a letterbook concerning the loss of the KENT. Some later items, 1869 to 1883, relate to canoeing. There is also a copy of a letter from MacGregor's father-in-law, Admiral Sir James Crawford Caffin (1812-1883), written to his parents in 1827 after the battle of Navarino.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were presented by MacGregor's son, Professor MacGregor-Morris, in 1958.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26