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Fergus MacCunn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fergus MacCunn
Born19 April 1890
Died18 May 1941 (aged 51)
OccupationActivist
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

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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

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MacCunn was the son of Hamish MacCunn and Alison Pettie.[1] He married Maude Annie Scott; they had one son, Robin.

Selected publications

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  • 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

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  1. ^ a b c d e Who Was Who, Volume 4. A. & C. Black. 1952. p. 720.
  2. ^ a b Oates, Jennifer L. (2016). Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916): A Musical Life. Taylor & Francis. p. 195. ISBN 978-1317124061.
  3. ^ a b Douglas Hume, Ethel (1939). The Mind-Changers. M. Joseph Limited. p. 178.
  4. ^ a b "The Late Captain Fergus MacCunn". The Oban Times. May 31, 1941. p. 2. (subscription required)
  5. ^ "Captain Fergus MacCunn" (PDF). The Teesdale Mercury. May 28, 1941. p. 8.
  6. ^ "News and Views" (PDF). Nature. 117 (2938): 278–282. 1926.
  7. ^ "R.S.P.C.A. Chief Secretary Dead". Somerset Country Herald. May 24, 1941. p. 2. (subscription required)