Author: MACDONALD, William P.
Biography:
MACDONALD, William Peter (1771-1847: DCB)
Born at Eberlow, Banffshire, Scotland, on 25 Mar. 1771, he was the son of Thomas Macdonald and his wife Ann Watt. A Roman Catholic, he studied for six years at the University of Douai in France but in April 1793 he was forced to flee to England and then, in October, to Spain where he completed his divinity studies at the Scots College at Valladolid and was ordained in 1796. Notes in Poems explain that he also spent time at the English college in Lisbon. He was in Scotland in 1798-1810 but returned to Spain as part of the expedition to free the deposed Spanish king from captivity. Macdonald was appointed chaplain to the Baron de Roll's infantry regiment and, later, to the British embassy in Madrid. He returned to Scotland in 1814 but in 1826 he was invited to move to Upper Canada where he served a number of parishes, including Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, Brockville, and Bytown (now Ottawa). In 1830 he established a weekly newspaper, the Catholic, which was published until 1831, revived in 1841, and published until 1844. In 1842 Macdonald became the first vicar general of Toronto but he was unpopular with his superiors and he held the post only until 1844 when he moved to Hamilton. In 1846 he was appointed to administer the diocese of Toronto during the Bishop's absence and he died at the Bishop's palace on 2 Apr. 1847. Macdonald was buried in St. Michael's cathedral in Toronto. Poems is dedicated to the Duke of Gordon and includes notes with biographical details, juvenilia, and a 14-page list of mostly Scottish subscribers. His Moneiad is dedicated to the Duke of Kent. Macdonald's English translation of Captain Francis Romeo’s The Mirror: Presented to his Sicilian Majesty, Great Britain, and the Allied Sovereigns, reflecting Political Facts of the Utmost Importance appeared in 1820 and was reissued in1822. He also published a sermon, Remarks on Doctor Strachan's Pamphlet Against the Catholic Doctrine of the ...Eucharist (1834), and a pamphlet, The Protestant, or Negative Faith Refuted (1836). He left behind an unpublished volume of hymns. (DCB 24 Jan. 2025; ancestry.co.uk 24 Jan. 2025; National Library of Canada catalogue) SR