Sir Donald Friell McLeod KCSI CB (6 May 1810 – 28 November 1872) was an Anglo-Indian civil servant who served as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab between 1865 and 1870.

His father was Duncan McLeod (1780-1856), a Scotsman who later became lieutenant general of the Bengal engineers, and achieved distinction designing the Hazarduari Palace.

He was initially stationed at Munger Fort and in 1831 assisted Colonel William Sleeman on special service suppressing the Thugee.

[3] During his six-year tenure in Benares, he was regarded for having made significant improvements to the municipal administration and police, and greatly reducing crime in the city.

Due to his efforts, the Indian Government introduced vernaculars in universities alongside English and agreed to the establishment of the Oriental College in Lahore in 1866.

[2] In his honour, the McLeod Medal was introduced, open to pupils across the province and which awarded a cash prize for the best examination result in an oriental language.

[3] Towards the end of his five-year term he requested and was granted a six-month extension so he could receive the Duke of Edinburgh during his proposed visit to India and introduce him to the Punjab.

[3] At around 5 pm on 28 November 1872, when on his way to a meeting of the Christian Vernacular Education Society for India, he was mortally injured from an accident at Gloucester Road station on the London Underground.

[4] Arriving at the Metropolitan Line platform, the station inspector told McLeod that he was too late to catch the train heading towards South Kensington; moments later, he shouted "stop, you will be run over".

A report on the incident in the Belfast News on 4 December stated, "It seems that he must have attempted to enter his compartment while the carriages were already in motion, and that, falling with the sudden and violent movement of the train, he was dragged along for several yards.

His friend John Lawrence called him a cunctator, describing him as morally and intellectually having no superior in the Punjab, but noting as an administrator he wasted much time on unimportant matters, spending half the day writing "elegant demi-official chits".