Leslie Thompson Carnegie, local government officer; born August 16, 1920, died July 6, 1998
SOME people would be driven to distraction working in the same room for half a lifetime, but not Leslie Carnegie, whose death has saddened the multitude of people who knew him during his long career in local government.
Mr Carnegie was the first chief executive of the old Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council, having taken up the post after 21 years as the County Clerk of Dumfries County Council.
After a sound education at Aberdeen Grammar School, Mr Carnegie, the son of a prosperous hairdresser, studied law at Aberdeen University and graduated with a BL degree before working as a solicitor in the city. However, he elected to specialise in local government law and administration; his first such post being with Aberdeen County Council.
After five years' service as an administrator with the REME during the war, Mr Carnegie was appointed to the post of Depute County Clerk with East Lothian County council. In 1954 he
was appointed as County Clerk
in Dumfries and, at 33, he is thought to have been the youngest person in Scotland ever to take such an office.
He worked in that familiar room right up to local government reorganisation in mid-1970s, and was to continue working there after his appointment as chief executive of the new council, a post which he held until his retiral in 1985.
Being immersed in local government and having to act as clerk to six consecutive Lords Lieutenant, with all that that entailed, Leslie Carnegie had little time for hobbies. He held a number of offices, including that of Honorary Sheriff in Dumfries from 1960 onwards. He was also a JP from 1957 onwards, and was president of the society of county clerks in Scotland.
He is remembered as a very reserved but friendly man with a good sense of humour. His reward for his devotion to duty, and for his having arranged several royal visits to south-west Scotland, came in the Queen's Birthday honours in 1980 when he was made a CBE.
After 47 years in the corridors of power, Leslie Carnegie opted not to take up any of the many offers he received to serve on committees. Instead, he decided to establish a beautiful garden at his home in Dumfries.
His wife, Isobel, points out that the garden had reached its peak this year. They would have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in September. They had no children.
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