Description

MACDONALD, ARCHIBALD JOHN, merchant, comptroller of navigation laws, consular agent, and controller of customs; b. 10 October 1834 in Panmure, son of Hugh Macdonald of Panmure and Catherine McDonald; m. 1 July 1873 Marian Murphy, and they had nine children, Marian, Alice, Catherine, Maude, Gladys, Temple*, Glen, Allister, and Howard; Roman Catholic; d. 18 August 1917 in Georgetown.
Macdonald, a Conservative, was first elected to the House of Assembly for Georgetown Royalty in March 1872. He was re-elected by acclamation in the general election of 1873. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1879, 1883, 1886, 1890. Macdonald was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the general election of 1893 for 5th Kings. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1897, 1900, 1904, and 1908. He was defeated in the general election of 1876. Macdonald served on Executive Council as a Minister without Portfolio from 1873 to 1876, and again from 1883 to 1891.
Macdonald continues to be the longest-serving Member of the House of Assembly and Legislative Assembly, since PEI became a Province of Canada.
Macdonald came from a family of merchants and politicians. They were considered to be a Prince Edward Island Scots Catholic aristocracy due to their relative affluence, political involvement, and ancestry. Their status was due to their dominance of the political and economic life of central Kings County for over a century. His father Hugh Macdonald and uncle Angus Macdonald were first elected to the House of Assembly in 1830. The brothers were among the first Catholic members of the Island Legislature. Macdonald’s brother Andrew Archibald was a Father of Confederation, a member of Executive Council and Lieutenant- Governor, as well as a member of the Legislative Council and a Member of the House of Assembly. Another brother, Augustine Colin*, was a Member of the House of Assembly, a Member of the House of Commons for King’s County, and Lieutenant-Governor of the province. Macdonald’s son Temple was elected in 1912 for 5th Kings by acclamation as a Conservative.
Macdonald studied at the Central Academy in Charlottetown. He was a merchant with A. A. Macdonald and Brothers. The firm, originally owned by his brother Andrew, shipped grain, potatoes, and lumber to New England, Newfoundland, and Great Britain, as well as imported manufactured goods for sale in their Georgetown and Montague Bridge stores. Shipbuilding was another interest. In the 1860s and 1870s the firm became involved in the Gulf of St. Lawrence mackerel fishery.
Beyond his mercantile affairs, Macdonald served as Comptroller of Navigation Laws, as the Sheriff of Kings County, as the Consular Agent of the United States Controller of Customs, and as the Collector of Imposts at Three Rivers. He also served as the chief executive of the Kings County Industrial Exhibition.
Macdonald died 18 August 1917 in Georgetown, which he represented for a great part of his life.
Marian Macdonald, the daughter of Dennis Murphy of London, England, and the niece of William Murphy of Charlottetown, was born ca. 1848., CPG 1874. 1876. 1877. 1915; DCB XIV 1911-1920 pp. 682-85; Elections PEI; Guardian 20 August |9|7; Islander II July 1873; PARO: MNI-Census 1891; Hutchinson's p. 124; Montague Funeral Home Records 1889-1903.