Sir John Steell

Sir John McNeill, 1795 - 1883. Diplomat

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About this artwork

McNeill was a distinguished diplomat and surgeon. After studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, he made his career with the East India Company, notably in Persia, and he was involved in the British attempt to consolidate power in Afghanistan.  Back in Britain, he was appointed chairman of the Board of Supervision responsible for the working of the new Scottish Poor Law Act of 1845, and in that year wrote a government report on the potato famine in the Western Highlands, during which he inspected twenty-seven of the most distressed parishes. In 1855, when the disasters of the Crimean War had provoked public indignation, McNeill was sent to report on the logistical inefficiencies. His report led to important army reforms. If in 1815, with the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington was hailed as the hero of the hour, the saviour of the nation, by the time of the Crimean War it was no longer possible to regards military leaders in such uncritical terms. The old certainties had gone - the world of imperial politics and complex international relations divided public opinion on foreign policy. Heroism itself had become a contested concept.

Updated before 2020

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Sir John Steell

Sir John Steell