Black pudding butcher leaves £3.3m in will
THE butcher behind the worldfamous Stornoway black pudding left a fortune of more than £3.3million in his will.
Charlie ‘Barley’ Macleod, 67, had fought ill health for many years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and died last September.
He ran the Charles Macleod family business with his brother Iain, working the same 365-acre hill farm that their father Charles had established in 1958 and selling their produce through their shop in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
He was responsible for the meteoric rise of the Stornoway black pudding and locals and tourists flocked to his shop to purchase the delicacy.
Mr Macleod was instrumental in getting European protection from fakes of the famous pudding, putting it on the same level as Parma ham and Cornish pasties.
The status, known as Protected Geographical Indication, means it can be described as Stornoway black pudding – or marag dubh in Gaelic – only if it is produced in the town or parish of Stornoway.
That means its blend of beef suet, oatmeal, onions, sheep, cow or pig blood, salt and pepper cannot be copied by producers elsewhere and branded Stornoway black pudding.
It has now emerged that Mr Macleod had an estate valued at £3,334,072 at the time of his death. His wealth included his £2.4million share in the family business.
He also had a shares portfolio worth more than £150,000, a £17,000 BMW, money held in bank accounts and almost £700,000 worth of property on Lewis.
Mr Macleod left instructions that his entire estate should be passed to his widow Julia.
Born and brought up in the village of Steinish on the outskirts of Stornoway, Mr Macleod went to school on the island before attending the Balmacara Agricultural School in Ross-shire.
However, he only lasted one year and at the age of 14 gave up school to join the family business.
As well as his passion for farming, Mr Macleod was an adrenalin junkie with interests in water skiing, freefall sky diving, wind surfing and scuba diving.
He was also a keen judo player and it was through this sport that he met Julia, whom he married in January 1975.
Together the couple had three daughters, Lorna, Shona and Ria, and eventually three grandchildren, Charlie Junior, Ronnie and Eva, who was born four weeks before his death.
Following Mr Macleod’s death, Western Isles Nationalist MP Angus MacNeil said: ‘He made a huge contribution to island life and helped put one of its iconic emblems on the map. He will be sadly missed.’