Donald MacDonald mostly known as Dan MacDonald (18579 March 1937) was a prominent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n pastoralist.

Early life

MacDonald was born at Bradley in Laggan in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and was the fourth child of Scottish immigrant Donald MacDonald. The MacDonald and MacKenzie families had read about the

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particu ...

descriptions of lands in the Kimberley region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

that would be open for leasehold. MacDonald had already arrived in Western Australia by 1879 when his father wrote to ask to explore the area. The younger MacDonald did asked then applied for a selection at the junction of the

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. ...

and Fitzroy River, that later became part of Fossil Downs Station.

Career

MacDonald began to establish the station and waited for his brothers, Charles and William, to arrive with the stock they were

droving Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding. Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the aid of dogs—has a very long history in the Old World. An owner might entrust an agent to de ...

from

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

. The brothers eventually arrived with the stock in 1886. Once arrived the MacDonalds and MacKenzies worked to build the property and cattle numbers soon increased. The MacKenzies sold their interest to the MacDonalds in the early 1900s, Charles MacDonald died in 1903 and then William died in 1910 leaving Dan with sole ownership of the property. The station prospered and MacDonald expanded the holding and introduced

Red Poll The Red Poll is a dual-purpose breed of cattle developed in England in the latter half of the 19th century. The Red Poll is a cross of the Norfolk Red beef cattle and Suffolk Dun dairy cattle breeds. Description and uses The cattle are red, p ...

cattle into the

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emp ...

herd.

Sidney Kidman Sir Sidney Kidman (9 May 18572 September 1935), known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoral farming, pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime. ...

acquired a stake in the 1920s but by 1928 MacDonald bought him out and had full ownership again. By 1931 his son, William MacDonald, became a partner. MacDonald retired to

in the early 1930s and continued to visit Fossil Downs until poor health forced him to stop travelling in 1935. He died at his home in Goulburn in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Donald 1857 births 1937 deaths Australian pastoralists People from the Southern Tablelands