The Maclagan family: six generations of service

The Maclagans were a Scots family from humble origins who produced famous physicians and surgeons (two of them presidents of Royal Colleges), ministers of religion (including one archbishop and several missionaries), a director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, a famous anthropologist, many army officers, a leading Oxford historian, several town mayors and politicians. Their lasting legacies include many books, papers and reports, new university departments and degrees, a new and much-needed focus on public health and hygiene, the care of the mentally ill and the development of military medicine, as well as a heightened reputation for the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Victoria & Albert Museum, all seemingly achieved without thought for personal aggrandisement. People who knew the Maclagans well characterised them by their energy, vision, graciousness, humour and commitment to serving others and their Christian faith.