22769: Donald Macdonald

Donald, born c 1848, was a son of Norman and Catherine Macdonald who settled at 5 Breaclete. He may have been a twin of Isabella (in census of 1871 they were both aged 23 years). Donald emigrated to Ontario and whilst there, married Chirsty Maclean.

The following is an excerpt from the Stornoway Gazette:

“Writing from Southampton, Ontario, a correspondent supplies some interesting notes on the passing of a Lewis old timer there. He says: After a prolonged illness, which has been gradually taking effect since last June, one of the oldest residents of this town, “Dan” MacDonald, was called to his eternal rest on Monday, April 5, 1926. Mr. MacDonald, who was a native of Lewis, was born in the parish of Uig, and left the island of Bernera in the early seventies. He came to Canada with a number of other pioneers from that neighbourhood and crossed the Atlantic in the “Elizabeth of Londonderry”, one of the first transatlantic steamships. They settled first in Huron County, Ontario, this province then being called Upper Canada. In 1877 he married Christina MacLean, a native of Ness, Lewis, whose family had migrated to Huron some years previously. Southampton was then, as it still is, the main fishing centre on Lake Huron, and immigrants from Lewis were naturally lured by their native industry. Soon quite a colony was formed, and Mr. MacDonald found here quite a congenial atmosphere and an attractive environment permeated by the traditions and customs of his native Isle, which every Lewisman holds dear.