Sir Donald Macmaster, 1st Baronet, KC (3 September 1846 – 3 March 1922) was a Canadian lawyer and a politician in both Canada and the United Kingdom.
Sir Donald Macmaster | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Donald Macmaster, photographed by Elliott & Fry between 1895 and 1903 | |
| Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Chertsey | |
| In office 1910–1922 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Marnham |
| Succeeded by | Philip Richardson |
| Member of Parliament for Glengarry | |
| In office 1883–1887 | |
| Preceded by | John McLennan |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Purcell |
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1879–1882 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander James Grant |
| Succeeded by | James Rayside |
| Constituency | Glengarry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 September 1846 Williamstown, Glengarry County, Canada West |
| Died | 3 March 1922 (aged 75) London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | Janet Macdonald (m. 1880)Ella Virginia DeFord
(m. 1890) |
| Children | 1 |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Canadian Militia |
| Branch/service | Williamstown Volunteer Infantry |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | Fenian Raids (1866) |
Macmaster was born into a family of Scottish descent in Williamstown, Glengarry County, Canada West (now in eastern Ontario). During the Fenian Raids in 1866 he served as a lieutenant in the Williamstown Volunteer Infantry. He studied law at McGill University, was called to the Quebec bar in 1871, and set up practice in Montreal. Macmaster served as Crown Prosecutor for many cases. He was called to the Ontario bar and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1882.
He represented Glengarry in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1879 to 1882 and in the House of Commons of Canada as a Conservative member from 1883 to 1887, when he lost his seat.
In 1905, Macmaster emigrated to the United Kingdom and settled in London, intending to practise in Privy Council cases, in which he already had considerable experience. Having been defeated at Leigh in 1906, in 1910 he was elected to the House of Commons as Conservative member for the Chertsey division of Surrey, holding the seat until his death. He was created a baronet in the 1921 New Year Honours.[1]
In 1880, he married Janet Macdonald, who died less than three years later. In 1890 he married the American Ella Virginia DeFord. Their only son, Donald, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos while commanding a company of the Cameron Highlanders on 25 September 1915.
Electoral history edit
| 1879 Ontario general election: Glengarry | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Donald Macmaster | 1,331 | 50.78 | |||||
| Liberal | James Rayside | 1,290 | 49.22 | +0.28 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 2,621 | 74.31 | +0.24 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 3,527 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from Independent Liberal | Swing | −0.14 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[2] | ||||||||
Footnotes edit
- ^ "No. 32178". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1920. p. 2.
- ^ "Data Explorer". Elections Ontario. 1879. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
References edit
- Obituary, The Times, 4 March 1922
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
External links edit
- Donald Macmaster – Parliament of Canada biography
- Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
- The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1883 JA Gemmill
- The Canadian men and women of the time : a handbook of Canadian biography HJ Morgan (1898)
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Donald Macmaster