Ronald MacDonald

Bank: National Bank of Scotland

Place of work: Portree branch

Died: 10 June 1916

Ronald MacDonald was born on the Isle of Skye on 31 July 1866, the son of Peter MacDonald. He attended the University of Glasgow, and became a solicitor. He was senior partner in the firm Messrs MacDonald & Fraser of Portree.

In Scotland, bank branches were often run by agents who also had another career, often as lawyers. MacDonald was one of these, serving as National Bank of Scotland's Portree agent from October 1899. He also held various public offices, including clerk to Skye District Committee, treasurer of a number of school boards and chairman of Portree Parish Council.

MacDonald was Captain of the Portree Men, a volunteer company of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. They were mobilised at the start of the First World War. MacDonald was seriously wounded at Festubert in May 1915. Major MacDonald, as he had become, died of his wounds on 10 June 1916. He was 49 years old.

Ronald MacDonald is commemorated on a bank war memorial at Gogarburn campus, Edinburgh.

Leave your message of remembrance

If you want to leave a message of remembrance for this fallen member of our staff please send us an email.

Please note that we review every comment before publishing it to make sure that it doesn't breach our posting guidelines so it sometimes takes a day or two for your comments to appear.

Message of remembrance

Alan Macdonald November 14 2018 10:06PM

I only found out on Remembrance Sunday 2018 when talking to my 90 year old father Donald Macdonald that my great grandfather’s brother Major Ronald Macdonald died in WW1. Through researching him on the internet I have since discovered that he was a Banker in Portree and volunteered to serve in WW1 aged 47 and died on 10 June 1916 after being wounded in 1915. On behalf of my father Donald and my sons Jamie and Calum I would like to pay tribute to his bravery and his sacrifice on the 100th anniversary of the armistice.

Alan Macdonald Bangor N.Ireland.