Douglas Hamilton McLean (18 March 1863 – 5 February 1901): McLean’s brass and window in Wells Cathedral commemorate a man whose life bridged sport, service, and sacrifice. Born in Sydney, the son of John Donald McLean, colonial treasurer of Queensland, he was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. On the river he was a formidable oarsman, rowing in the Boat Race five times between 1883 and 1887, winning twice, and taking the Silver Goblets at Henley with his brother Hector. He also turned out once for Somerset cricket in 1896, keeping wicket against Cambridge University. Known as “Ducker” McLean, he was remembered as dignified, steady, and competitive, whether on the water, at billiards, or in the courtroom as a Justice of the Peace.
After Hector’s death in 1888, McLean coached Oxford crews to a string of victories and settled in Somerset life, serving in the North Somerset Yeomanry. In 1900 he joined the 69th (Sussex) Company Imperial Yeomanry, saw service in the Second Anglo-Boer War, and was promoted to captain. He died of enteric fever in Johannesburg in 1901, aged just 37. His name is also recorded on Boer War memorials at Battle, East Sussex, and at Eton College. In Wells, his wife Eliza Mary gave a four-light stained glass window in his memory, each light depicting a figure, with St George in the left-hand panel. Beneath it, a brass plaque carries the dedicatory inscription:
Inscription on the memorial window:
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
IN MEMORY OF DOUGLAS HAMILTON McLEAN
CAPTAIN NORTH SOMERSET YEOMANRY CAVALRY
AND 69TH (SUSSEX) COMPANY IMPERIAL YEOMANRY
DIED AT JOHANNESBURG 5TH FEBRUARY 1901 AGED 37
HIS WIFE ELIZA GAVE THIS WINDOW
The Wells window anchors his story in Somerset, linking the quiet cathedral close to the wider world of Henley regattas, Oxford boat races, and the battlefields of South Africa. It is both a personal act of devotion and a public reminder of how far the lives of Somerset men could reach.
