Background
Donaldson was born in Northumberland in 1799.
Donaldson was born in Northumberland in 1799.
He was probably related to James Donaldson (fl 1794), writer on agriculture and land surveyor from Dundee, whose subjects he made his own. In his early years in the 1820s Donalson had the management of large farms, and extensive estates, such as those of Loudon Castle in Ayrshire, and Donnington Park in Leicestershire, both in Scotland and England. In the 1840s Donaldson was appointed Head of Agricultural School at Hoddesdon, which at that time had just been established.
In the title pages of his chief writings, Donaldson is described as "Professor of Botany" and "Government Land Drainage Survey." He was elected Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Donaldson was presented to the Charterhouse by the Prince Consort in August 1855, and died a poor brother there on 22 March 1876, leaving a will in favour of Elizabeth Saine, a widow. In the year after his death a posthumous work on "Suburban Farming" was edited by Robert Scott J. South. Edward Ryde, J.
