Captain Murdo Stewart MacDonald (1849MacMillan, Allister (1914).
Mauritius illustrated: historical and descriptive, commercial and industrial facts, figures, & resources
'. London : W.H. & L. Collingridge. Reprint: Asian Educational Services, 2000. . page 440. or 1852–1938) was known to the whole of the nautical world as the last of the Sea-Barons. Final Port of Last Sea Baron
/ref>

Early life

MacDonald was born in about 1852 in Tigh a Chaolais,

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island. Great Bernera l ...

, Isle of Lewis,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He was the 6th child of John MacDonald 'an Domhnullach' of Tigh a Chaolais. An Domhnullach was the son of Donald MacDonald, tacksman of

Little Bernera Little Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh Beag) is a small island situated off the west coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Little Bernera lies between the sea lochs of West and East Loch Roag, immediately to the north of Great Bernera. ...

and was a direct descendant of Dòmhnall Cam.Notes of Family History
/ref>

Career

MacDonald went to sea at the age of eighteen as an apprentice in the Glasgow ship, ''Assaye''. He served for four years in the

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

trades. From an early age he proved himself a competent seaman and ship driver. When he was 24 he was first mate on the ''May Queen'' the captain was injured during a storm. MacDonald remained on deck and drove the ship for 33 days and nights while the ship was battered by storms. The second mate was also washed overboard. In 1882 when he was at home in Bernera he received a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

asking him to report to Greenock to take captaincy of a vessel. The vessel he was to take charge of was the ''

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

'' one of the most famous clippers on the China run. The ''Sir Lancelot'' was a very fast vessel and frequently overtook other ships on the same routes by a matter of days. Under MacDonald the ship was on the sugar and rice trade, taking sugar from

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

to the Indian coast or the Gulfs and salt to Calcutta or Rangoon. It took six cargoes a year, when speed meant money, and when almost every passage saw the breaking of a record. The ''Sir Lancelot'' was sold to a merchant in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

in 1886 and in 1887 MacDonald settled in

. He was appointed Examiner for Masters' and Mates' Certificates in 1890, Surveyor to the Vice-Admiralty Court in 1892, and Surveyor to

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

in 1895. He held the latter position until his son took over in 1923.

Family

MacDonald was married to Elizabeth O'Keefe and they had two sons.

Last days

MacDonald died on 4 March 1938 in Mauritius.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Murdo Stewart Scottish sailors People from the Isle of Lewis British Mauritius people 1852 births 1938 deaths Emigrants from the United Kingdom to British Overseas Territories