William Leslie ( -1879), railway contractor
1879 Obituary [1]
Mr. Leslie, of Nethermuir, who was Lord Provost of Aberdeen from 1869 to 1874, died at his residence in Aberdeen last evening.
The deceased, who was a native of New Deer, was a self-educated man, and distinguished himself by his ability as an architect, and his enterprise as a railway contractor. His greatest work was the designing and construction of Dunrobin Castle, in Sutherlandshire, which was built in 1845-49, at a cost of £120,000.
He also executed a number of important works in Aberdeen, and was a member of the firm of Macdonald and Leslie, which first started the granite polishing trade in Aberdeen.
As a railway contractor he constructed the Deeside Railway, the Buchan and Formartin Railway, the Devon Valley Railway, the Perth and Dunkeld Railway, the Forfar Direct Line, and several others.
At the time of his death he was chairman of theGreat North of Scotland Railway, of the Northern Assurance Company, and of the Aberdeen Jute Company, and he was also a director of the North of Scotland Bank.