Ian McGhee (1946-2023)

Ian McGhee (1946-2023)

Members of the John Galt Society will be saddened to hear of the death of our long-term Secretary, Treasurer and friend John ‘Ian’ McGhee, on 6 August 2023. Ian was born in Irvine in September 1946 and grew up in Cumnock. He was an only child until the age of nine, when his beloved wee sister Maureen was born. Ian was hugely proud to be a Cumnockian, having attended Cumnock Academy, where he rose to be School Captain, and where he played rugby with the school team. Latterly, Ian was very active within the Cumnock History Group, where he was proud to contribute to the Group’s publication, Ploughing Up Our Past, an account of farming in the Ayrshire parishes of Auchinleck, New Cumnock, Ochiltree and Old Cumnock. Although Ian went to Glasgow University upon leaving school, it would prove to be a short stay: while his interest in his chosen subjects – History and Politics – never left him, he dropped out of his degree studies after the first year. Thankfully for Galt studies, he would find his way back some years later.

At this point, Ian joined the Civil Service, where he would remain for 33 years. His first position was at Southend-on-Sea, where he met his future wife, Linda. The ensuing years saw Ian move around the country and beyond. After Southend, Ian worked in the Business Statistics Office in Eastcote, Middlesex, and thereafter – following his marriage to Linda in October 1969 – in Newport, South Wales. Shortly after their relocation to Wales, Ian was promoted and he and Linda headed back to Scotland, where he worked at the Scottish Office in Edinburgh. Here, he had various roles in various departments, many of which involved international travel. Ian was central to negotiations in the 1980s to secure the EU Common Fisheries Agreements, which took him to Brussels and many other European cities. In the 1990s, as founder and Director of Scottish Trade International promoting Scottish exports, Ian led trade missions to Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. He worked for a time on secondment to Cairn Energy, negotiating oil leases with the Bangladeshi government. Ian also had a key role in major developments at home: as Deputy Director of Locate in Scotland, he was instrumental in bringing the Golden Jubilee Hospital to Clydebank and the Caledonian Paper Mill to Irvine.

Ian retired early in 2000, but this did not entail a quiet repose. He worked for the next several years in local government, and was Chairman of the Robroyston Community Council in Glasgow.

Full retirement came for Ian in 2008, and it was at this point that he was able to immerse himself more fully in Scottish literature and history and the life and works of John Galt. Ian had always promised himself that he would return to Glasgow University; he was true to his word in 2009, when he embarked on a full-time degree in Scottish Literature, graduating with first class Honours. In 2013, Ian embarked on an MPhil research degree, entitled ‘New Lands; Old Ways – John Galt’s North American Corpus’. In his dissertation, Ian focused on Galt’s literary outputs related to North American subjects, including the novels Lawrie Todd and Bogle Corbet, but also twenty-six periodical publications, contextualising them with Galt’s role in establishing the Canada Company, his work in Canada and his dismissal from the Company. Ian also made links between his primary texts and Galt’s earlier works, as well as with Scottish Enlightenment philosophy.

In 2014, Ian was a co-founder, with Prof. Gerard Carruthers, of the John Galt Society at Glasgow University, where he was the Society’s first Secretary and Treasurer until he stepped down from these roles at the most recent AGM in 2023. As members will be well aware, Ian was at the very heart of the Society and its efforts to bring Galt to a wider readership and greater recognition. His vision is still at the core of what the Society stands for.

After graduation from his MPhil, Ian and Linda moved back to his native Ayrshire, and settled in Ayr. Apart from his many academic interests, Ian was a keen sports fan, playing and watching football, rugby, cricket and golf, as well as a lifelong supporter of Kilmarnock FC. He was also an avid long distance walker and cyclist. He enjoyed many cycling holidays in Britain and cycled much of the length of the River Danube.

Ian had a happy home and family life. He was a protective big brother to Maureen and his long and loving marriage to Linda lasted nearly 55 years. Ian was a proud father of daughters Fiona and Katie and grandfather to Lily and Jamie. He is survived by his family, who welcome donations in Ian’s memory for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), a cause dear to Ian’s heart. Donations can be made here.

Members of the John Galt Society will miss Ian’s depth and breadth of knowledge, his kindness, compassion, patience and humour but, most importantly, his friendship. His contribution to Galt studies and to the Society are, for us, cherished legacies.

Rhona Brown

University of Glasgow