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.
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".2