Biography
Son of John McGhie of Balmaghie (d. 1732) and Isabel Gordon (d. 1757), and a cousin of the 8th Viscount Kenmure.1 Married to Eleanor McDouall, a sister of the 6th Earl of Dumfries. McGhie was a cloth-merchant in Edinburgh and Secretary to The Society of Hunters (a racing club).
He sold the Balmaghie estate to Thomas Gordon in 1786.
- 1His mother, Isabel Gordon, was a daughter of Alexander, 5th Viscount of Kenmure (d. 1698).
Life with Boswell
Boswell met McGhie at Lord Kenmure's on September 16, 1762, describing him as "[a] good-natured man, who has no aversion to be a butt [of a joke], although he takes care to have a good premium for every arrow that he receives".1
- 1According to Boswell in his Harvest Journal, September 16, 1762