Brigadier-General Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson (7 July 1856 – 5 June 1916) was an

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

-born English mechanical engineer. He was born at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, the first Premier of New South Wales. He was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge, University of Edinburgh and Zurich University. Initially employed at the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

locomotive works at Crewe, Cheshire, he worked on railway and harbour construction at Goa, India, from 1884 to 1887, and on

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

from 1887 to 1891. He was Chief Engineer at London's India Docks from 1892 to 1897. Alongside his latter two projects, he was based as Chief Mechanical Engineer at the Royal Ordnance Factories, Woolwich, from 1889 to 1903, during which period he also served as its Deputy Director-General in 1898–99. He was appointed Director-General in 1903 and continued until, in the First World War, he resigned to take up his last appointment, as Chief Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Munitions, then headed by David Lloyd George, in September 1915.
Feature "Kitchener's Lost Staff". He was also commissioned in the army with the rank of

brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. He was made CB in 1909 and promoted to KCB in 1911. He was president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1913 and 1914. He was one of the advisers selected to accompany the

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

Lord Kitchener on a mission to Russia in June 1916 and perished, aged fifty-nine, with all but 12 others when their ship, , struck a German mine off the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Hollybrook Memorial at Southampton, Hampshire.
CWGC Casualty Record. Retrieved 26 February 2013 On 15 July 1884, he married Selina Beresford (1859–1938), daughter of Colonel Marcus Beresford (1818–1890), Marcus Beresford MP. They had three children.

References

Memorial is at HOLLYBROOK MEMORIAL, SOUTHAMPTON 1856 births 1916 deaths Military personnel from New South Wales Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army generals of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I English mechanical engineers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British military engineers British Army brigadiers Engineers from Sydney Colony of New South Wales people Engineers from the British Empire {{UK-army-bio-stub