J Donald

I always knew I had a Scottish ancestor called Donald, who dropped the Mc from his name when he left Scotland. Half remembered family lore has that he came from the Cairngorms but we know for sure he settled near Ipswich. Although my Gran does not remember him she eventually chose to move back to that same area and now lives a short walk away from his old home. I think she spent the first few years of her life round there too.

So as I went back, I was not surprised to find him. I am not surprised he seems to have left a strong legacy in my family because one thing is for sure, he was a strong man. This is his story, as much of it as I know anyway.

He was born in Scotland in 1828, probably in the Cairngorms which are one of the few remaining true wildernesses left in the UK. Vast (by UK standards), empty, they are a range of mountains far to the north where reindeer have been reintroduced successfully to the UK.

He would probably have had some education as given his later life, it is likely that he he could read and write. He was a member of the MacDonald clan (according to family lore and his surname) and the fact that because of this, we could trace our heritage back to Robert de Bruce was passed on down through the family.

He left Scotland though to become a soldier in the 72nd Highlanders. He probably spent some time at Colchester as it is likely that this is where he met his future wife E. By the age of 26 (when I can first find him) he was already a Sergeant and based in Ireland. The year was 1854 and he was posted to the Crimean during this year, but before he went, he married E in Cork.

Who knows if she had been living with him unmarried before they married or whether being sent to war caused her to travel over there to marry sooner than they had planned.

In the Crimean he fought at Sebastopol. The Crimean was a grim war but somehow he survived and returned to Ireland where he had and Elizabeth had their first child J R (my great great Grandfather) in 1856. In 1857 E gave birth to their second child, T J but he was born in Wollwich and J Donald left for the Indian Mutiny.

He fought at the Siege of Kotah as well as (no idea if I have spelt thes right as I can not read the handwriting very well) the Battle of Burnass & Oodeypore. While he was gone E and the two children moved to Colchester.

I found a little more information on Oodeypore and it is quite a story. 100 men of the 72nd were mounted on camels and joined with 275 sabres of cavalry and two 9 pounder guns to form a small column. They were ordered to pursue with utmost speedthe rebels under Rao Sahib and Tantia Topee. They left on 23rd of November 1858 and marched 241 miles in nine days with the last part being through dense jungle. They surprised 3500 mutineers and caused them considerable losses and the mutineers dispersed following this. They rejoined the main forces in May of 1859 after 17 months under canvas and traveling over 3000 miles. See here and here.

On his return he remained a soldier and they had three further boys, all born in Kingston. He was still a soldier at the age off 33 in 1861 but by 1871 the family was living at Portsea and he was a Prison Warder. This was again a grim task as conditions in prisons were very bad at this time, but even so, it was a good job for a retired soldier.

By 1881 though the family had moved to Ipswich where E originally came from and J Donald was working as a Storekeeper at an Iron Works. He was 53 and was still in this job at 73, only five years before he died.

He was undoubtably a tough man, mentally and physically. He appears to have walked away from his family and his past when he left Scotland as no town is ever listed on the censuses. He must have been quite charismatic for E to travel to ireland and marry him there. She outlived him and lived by herself for her last few years, a few doors from her youngest son.

He had a very varied set of careers and this seems to have inspired his sons - all of whom worked but each seemed to emulate a different aspect of his working life. The eldest was a builders clerk and became the manager of a brickworks. The second eldest became a Drill Sergeant at a Royal naval school. The third started as an Iron Driller at the iron works (not sure what happened to him yet. The fourth became a teacher and later a Headmaster. The youngest was a steam engine fitter and then later on he was an Engineering Storeman.

He must have seen and done some dreadful things and survived some awful situations too. I don't get the sense that he was nasty man or difficult. He seems to have been well looked after since leaving the forces and his sons all went in very different directions and made a success of themselves. I fully intend to keep researching his life because there is just so much of interest.