Sir Ian Zachary Malcolm, 17th Laird of Poltalloch, KCMG (1919), (3 September 1868 – 28 December 1944) was a Conservative Member of Parliament and Chieftain of the Clan Malcolm/MacCallum.
He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. He served as a Justice of the Peace (Argyll, 1898) and as MP for Stowmarket 1895-1906, Croydon 1910-1918, then Croydon South 1918 until 1919. His Labour opponent in the 1918 General Election was H.T. Muggeridge, father of Malcolm Muggeridge.
Sir Ian held many diplomatic and political appointments and was a British Red Cross Officer during the First World War in France, Switzerland, Russia and the U.S.. He was private secretary to Balfour at the Peace Conference in 1919.
On 30 June 1902 at St. Margaret's, Westminster, Jeanne Langtry, daughter of Lillie Langtry, the famous actress, married Sir Ian. Breaking all tradition, the bride was given away by her mother. Unfortunately, Malcolm's family was far from impressed by their new daughter-in-law's mother—it is likely they were highly aware that Jeanne Marie's father was not Lillie Langtry's first husband, Edward Langtry, but one of her numerous lovers—and Lillie saw less and less of her daughter. Jeanne and Sir Ian lived alternately in a house in Belgravia, London, or at the Malcolm’s family seat at Poltalloch in Scotland.
Their first child, George Ian, was born ten months after the wedding. Victor (the first husband of the actress Ann Todd) and Angus followed in the next five years, then a decade later, Helen Mary. Mary later became one of the first two female announcers on the BBC Television Service (now BBC One) from 1948 to 1956, during which time she became a household name in the UK. She died on 13 October 2010 at the age of 92.
Sir Ian was the author of a number of books, including: A Persian Pastoral (poetry), Highland Lore and Legend, Paraphrased by I. Malcolm (in verse), Indian Pictures and Problems, Lord Balfour, Poets at Play (parodies), Songs of the Clachan, Stuff and Nonsense: a book of war verses, The Calendar of Empire, other essays: Vacant Thrones, Verses for Music, and War Pictures behind the Lines.
He also edited Convicted, a record of disloyal speeches, resolutions, leaflets and posters, published in Ireland and the USA between 1880 and 1911.
Famous quotes containing the word malcolm:
“Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.”
—Janet Malcolm (b. 1934)