Dr Rognvald Maitland Livingstone, former deputy convener of Grampian Regional Council, who played host to the Queen and Mikhail Gorbachev, has died aged 86.
His early years were spent in India and his first language was Hindi. In later years he went on to head the Rowett Institute’s commercial company.
Maitland and his wife Rona, were renowned world travellers and visited more than 20 far-flung destinations including the Galapagos Islands, Japan and Zambia.
For 11 years, Maitland represented Echt and Skene as a regional councillor.
He was born at 1 Carden Terrace, Aberdeen, on January 27, 1935.
Maitland’s father, Rognvald had been born in Jamaica in 1902, where his father, WP Livingstone, had been editor of the Gleaner before returning to Scotland as editor of Life and Work, the Church of Scotland magazine.
His mother, Anne Maitland, was the daughter of Adam Maitland who had served as Lord Provost of Aberdeen.
India
Maitland’s father worked for Royal Bank of Scotland and had been transferred to Allahabad Bank in India.
The first four years of Maitland’s life were spent in India and he was baptised at Nainital in the foothills of the Himalayas.
In 1939, the family returned to Aberdeen. Maitland was one of the first 12 boys who joined the 32nd Company of The Boys’ Brigade at Craigiebuckler Church, started by his father.
Camping
He enjoyed annual camps at Logie Coldstone, which began his love of activity and the outdoors.
Maitland was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and then went on to the North of Scotland College of Agriculture, having first spent an obligatory one-year practical working on a farm at Upper Craigton, near Kincardine O’Neil.
This farm had no electricity, water was hand-pumped and the toilet was outside. From there he moved to Mackie’s of Westerton, Rothienorman, where he was up at 4am every day to work in the dairy.
Catterick
National Service followed which he served as a Centurion tank instructor with the Royal Dragoon Guards at Catterick Camp, Yorkshire.
After National Service, he went to Essex Institute to study agricultural engineering.
Following graduation, he returned to Aberdeen, first working for Barclay, Ross and Hutchinson, agricultural engineers, before moving to the Rowett Research Institute at Bucksburn where he spent the rest of his professional career, mainly in the department of applied nutrition, pig section.
Scientific papers
He published nearly 100 scientific papers and went on to become a governor of the Scottish Agricultural College and a member of the technical committee of Easter Anguston Farm at Peterculter.
He married Rona in 1964 and four children, Rognvald, Karen, Morag and Duncan followed.
Initially the family lived in Aberdeen before moving 10 miles out of the city to the old manse, now Kirkstane House, at Kirkton of Skene, in 1980.
Open University
In his thirties, Maitland enrolled with the Open University and was one of their first students to achieve a BA degree, followed by a PhD in the late 1970s.
He then became the first managing director of the Rowett Institute’s commercial company, Rowett Research Services Ltd.
For 11 years he represented Echt and Skene as a Grampian regional councillor.
Soviet leader
He was the authority’s last deputy convener, hosting dignitaries including The Queen, the Princess Royal and Mikhail Gorbachev among many other notable visitors.
Ahead of his time as chairman of the agricultural committee in the 1990s, he secured a policy to plant wildflowers on road verges.
An example of this can still be seen on the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road west of Aberdeen Airport at Tyrebagger.
Aberdeen Burgess
Maitland was also a Burgess of the City of Aberdeen and, until the age of 70 a Justice of the Peace.
With Rona and their family, many holidays were enjoyed around Scotland and abroad, travelling by car with either a large tent or caravan.
The sights and cultures of many European and Scandinavian countries inspired their own children to an interest in other cultures, global travels and learning.
When the children began to leave home, Maitland and Rona continued to travel. They returned to India twice, visiting places from Maitland’s childhood.
Back at home Maitland particularly enjoyed his garden, his Jack Russell dogs, hill walking and skiing.
Glider pilot
He also learned how to fly a glider and gained his pilot’s wings at Deeside Gliding Club, Aboyne, where he owned a share in a Capstan glider, regularly flying over the Cairngorms and Deeside.
Maitland was also a founding member of Westhill and District Rotary Club and president in 1998-99.
In 2010 he was awarded Rotary International’s highest honour, a Paul Harris Fellowship, for service to Rotary and the community.
Dr R Maitland Livingstone died peacefully at home, on September 22, 2021. He is survived by his wife Rona, to whom he was married to for 57 years, his four children and seven grandchildren.