William James Gilmour McDonald (13 June 1924 – 9 December 2015) was a Scottish minister. He served as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1989. He presented BBC Radio Scotland's "

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

" for many years.

Life

He was born on 3 June 1924 to Grace Kennedy Hunter and Hugh Gilmour McDonald. He was educated at Daniel Stewart's School,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and was school

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

. He studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

graduating with an MA, going on to take a further degree in divinity at the University. In the final years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was a Captain in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in an anti-tank regiment. He then returned to Scotland where, after assisting in St Cuthberts Church in Edinburgh for some years, he was ordained into the church at

Limekilns Limekilns is a village in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth, around south of Dunfermline. History and economy Unlike the neighbouring village of Charlestown, Limekilns is an old settlement dating back to the 14th cen ...

which also included being Chaplain to

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was fo ...

. In 1959 he was translated to the

Mayfield Salisbury Church Mayfield Salisbury Church, formerly Mayfield North Church and also informally known as Mayfield Church, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland. It is located in the Newington district of Edinburgh, approximately south of the city centre ...

in south

succeeding Rev James Whyte. He remained there for the rest of his life. In Edinburgh he also served as Chaplain to the

Merchant Company of Edinburgh The Royal Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, previously known as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh is a mercantile company and Guild officially recognised in 1681, but dating back to at least 1260. The Company, or Confraternity, was ...

. He received an honorary doctorate (DD) from the University of Edinburgh in 1987. He retired in 1992 but would still speak occasionally at his former church. He died in Edinburgh on 9 December 2015 and is buried in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hil ...

near his home. The grave lies near the north-west corner of the modern western extension.

Family

In 1952 he married Margaret Patricia Watson, and together they had two daughters and a son; Alison, Sheena, a television presenter and journalist, and Roddy.

Publications

*''Words Thought and Said'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, William James Gilmour 1924 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Clergy from Edinburgh Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 21st-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers People educated at Stewart's Melville College