DONALD McDONALD (21665)

Donald McDonald,  born about 1797, was from Fort Augustus, Inverness, Scotland. He came to Rupert’s Land as a servant of the HBC about 1813, and spent most of his years with the Company in the Swan River District working on the York boats. He received his discharge on Oct. 31, 1825(1). Donald is thought to have settled in Red River in 1826 with his ‘country wife’ Nancy Farquharson and young family. This information from a descendant is consistent with the Red River Census records which first show him in 1828 as a married man with two sons under 16 years.

Donald McDonald was known as ‘Little Donald’ in the settlement, differentiating him from another man of the same name known as ‘Big Donald’. The St. John’s marriage registers show a marriage for Donald and Nancy on 24 March 1829. The registers also show the baptisms of their children. Donald and Nancy would have a family of thirteen. Applications for scrip by their children John and Nancy confirm the maiden name of their mother as Nancy Ferguson(2).

Nancy died in 1866 and Donald in 1872. They are buried in St. Andrew’s-on-the-Red Cemetery.

(1) HBCA biographical sheet for McDonald, Donald ‘b’. The bio sheet gives no information about Donald’s wife or children. The HBCA researcher suggests that Donald ‘b’ could be the man who married Jennet Bethune at Red River in 1824. This is incorrect; a different Donald McDonald and Janet Bethune married in 1824 and left for West Gwillimbury the following year.

(2) Scrip affidavit of John McDonald specifically names his father as ‘Little Donald’, so we know this is the correct family. Ferguson and Farquharson seem to be variations of the name, Ferguson eventually replacing Farquarhson.