John McNeill (1767-1846) was born and died in Scotland. He was an agriculturalist known for consolidating the McNeill family's ownership of the formerly rugged and unproductive islands of Colonsay and Oronsay in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and transforming them into rich, agricultural lands. He and his wife, Hester McNeill (b. McNeill), had six sons, two of whom went on to prominence: Duncan McNeill, 1793-1874, who became Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Session (Scotland's highest court) and a Member of Parliament; and John McNeill, 1794-1883, who became a well-known surgeon and British ambassador to Persia (now Iran).

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