Career
He represented King"s County and later King"s in the Canadian House of Commons from 1873 to 1874, from 1878 to 1882, from 1883 to 1887 and from 1891 to 1900 as a Liberal-Conservative member. Macdonald served as the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1915 to 1919. He was born in Panmure Island, the son of Hugh Macdonald, a Scottish immigrant, and was educated in Georgetown and Charlottetown.
Macdonald married Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of John Small MacDonald, in 1865.
He served as a captain in the militia. He represented 3rd Kings in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1870 to 1873.
He resigned his seat in 1873 to run for the federal seat. On June 2, 1915, Macdonald was named Lieutenant Governor.
He died in office in 1919.