The Institute was founded in 1930 through a benefaction from one of Canada's Scottish sons, Dr T.B. Macaulay (1860 - 1942), of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. His aim was to improve the productivity of Scottish agriculture.

Dr Macaulay was a descendent of the Macaulays from the Outer Hebridean Isle of Lewis, Scotland. He was true to his Hebridean roots throughout his life, often giving large donations to Lewis, which funded various projects including a new library and a new wing at Lewis hospital.

The Institute in its current form was founded in April 1987 by the merger of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research and the Hill Farming Research Organisation.

It was established to carry out research in support of the agricultural industry, taking account of the interaction between the industry and other land users, and set in the context of the environmental objectives of the UK Government and the European Union.

Learn more about our history:

Scottish Roots of the Macaulay Family

Working Life

Philanthropy

Farming

The Macaulay Institute: Beginnings

The Dirt Doctors

The 21st Century

Into the Future

Timeline

 

An album of individual posters detailing our history is available.

Into the Future poster (550KB pdf)

Thanks go to the following for assistance in the production of this material

• Dr W. Lambert Gardiner, Hudson Historical Society
• Heritage Canada
• Nancy Maitland, Sun Life
• Rod Hodgson, Hudson Historical Society
  
• Doug, Tom and Diana Macaulay
  
• Chris Reid, Fraserburgh Heritage Centre
  
• Jamie Watt, Macaulay Institute