William was a direct descendant of Ian Og, guardian of Clanranald and first Chief of Glenaladale and Glenfinnan, Invernesshire, Scotland. The duties of the clan protector were passed down from one generation to another. William, however, significantly broadened the definition of the word “clan” to encompass one’s country.

The sixth of seven children, William was born on February 10, 1831, to the Honourable Donald Macdonald, Member (later President) of the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island, and Matilda Brecken. By the age of 16, after heated disagreements with his father, he ran away to Boston, Massachusetts, to become “a minor in a counting room.” Within two years, the business acumen and single-minded determination to succeed that would take him to the heights of Canadian finance began to bud.

Following a brief and near ruinous 1851 venture in shipping consigned goods from Boston to Charlottetown, William and his brother Augustine left Massachusetts for safer home ground. Early the next year, they resurfaced as “Montreal oil and commission merchants.” While profits were reasonable, William was still unsatisfied.
 

When Queen Victoria knighted Sir William Macdonald in 1898, Her Majesty declared the Montrealer as "the greatest philanthropist in the British Empire." [Photo, courtesy Macdonald Stewart Foundation]

As with most nineteenth century young men, his dream was to become wealthy, and, by using common sense mixed with frugality and unrelenting resolve, he was determined to “turn his signature into gold.”

On the eve of the American Civil War in 1858, “McDonald Brothers and Co., Tobacco Manufacturers” was established. By 1866 the name was changed to “W.C. McDonald,” with William as sole proprietor. Because the corporate logo was a heart-shaped tin label, the product became known as “the tobacco with a heart,” an appropriate slogan considering that most of the company’s profits were later spent on Canadian youth.

Business grew steadily. Paper work was William’s number one enemy, but the simplicity by which he ran his company assured economic stability and success. Purchases by “unknown” merchants were paid for in cash; those few granted accounts settled before another order was filled. Buyers were responsible for delivery of their goods William was “in the business of manufacturing tobacco, not transporting it.” As his tobacco products fast became the favourites across the country, there was no choice but to accept his demands.

Citing smoking as a “wasteful habit” and the chewing of tobacco as “disgusting,” he sought a way in which his profits could benefit society at large. With this new purpose, con-sciously or not, William assumed the hereditary duty of guardian, thus becoming one of Canada’s preeminent humanitarians.

His general interest focused on the country’s youth and the quality of their education. If they were to succeed, education would have to be the key. much of his knowledge was acquired by reading reports and magazines well into each night while standing at his own library lectern. Getting children to school was not as difficult as keeping them there. It would take meaningful and inspiring training to achieve that, and he was determined to provide it.

Interestingly, given that he himself was a school dropout, his initial patronage in this field, in 1870, was ten annual matriculation scholarships to McGill University that continue to this day to provide funds for scholarships in the Arts Faculty.
 

In 1883 he was nominated to the Board of McGill Governors and, until his death, 35 years later, neither the university nor its students ever had a more knowledgeable or generous benefactor. Deficits were discreetly covered; endowments of Chairs and gifts of land and equipment were anonymously given in addition to tuition fees and scholarships for hundreds of youth he never met.

William’s passionate regard for agriculture began to soar, ironically, as a direct result of his election in 1887 as a Bank of Montreal director. On reviewing the Bank’s progress, he noted increased economic growth in rural areas where dairy and livestock farming dominated. This awakened his interest in English-speaking farmers in Quebec, his home province, and led to “The Macdonald movement for Rural Education.”

McGill meanwhile continued to prosper from his generosity: the Macdonald Physics and Chemistry buildings, and, jointly with Thomas Workman of Montreal, the Macdonald Engineering building, all with fully funded faculties, were opened. As well, William had the Engineering building reconstructed after it was destroyed by fire. Before classes were recommenced, however, William tested the contractor’s guarantee that it was now fireproof by igniting, inside the structure, wood shavings that indeed caused only slight damage. The building and contractor were then deemed trustworthy.

An example of the expertise with which he staffed his faculties was the appointment of Ernest Rutherford, who had been working on radioactive transformation of the elements at Cambridge University. Appointed as Macdonald Professor of Physics, Rutherford went on to win the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908 for his work at McGill and later was knighted for his efforts that precipitated the splitting of the atom.

Having already refused that honour once, William consented, in 1898, to being knighted by Queen Victoria, who, unaware that his efforts had just begun, described him as the greatest philanthropist in education in the British Empire.

It was said of Macdonald that “to be of service to others on lines of his own choosing was with him a passion.” That passion was ignited in 1899 when he began to work with Dr. James W. Robertson, then Dominion Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying. Together, with the aim of keeping the children on the farms, they launched an experiment of introducing nature study and gardening into country schools. Sir William astutely knew the importance of spirituality and believed that, if children learned to feel a closeness to the earth, then perhaps they would not be lured to the big cities.

This endeavour was so successful that it caused the formation of Macdonald Consolidated Schools which offered not only gardening and nature study but manual (practical) training and household sciences as well. Schools were established in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.
 

William Macdonald culminated his education philantrhopy with the founding of the Macdonald Institue on the Ontario Agricultural Colleg campus at Guelph, Ontario, in 1903. In 1964 the OAC was renamed the University of Guelph [Photo, courtesy Macdonald Steward Foundation]

Sir William also provided transportation horse-drawn wagons to facilitate the children’s attendance. As well, he awarded scholarships that enabled teachers to attend courses at Chicago, Cornell, Columbia, and Clark universities in the United States and at the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph. Instructors were paid out of the Macdonald Training Fund and, by 1907, more than 20,000 young people were benefiting from his efforts.

When Lord Strathcona donated Strathcona Hall to Montreal’s Young Men’s Christian Association, Sir William, who, although spiritual, did not incline to any one religious denomination, stated, “Lord Strathcona has given a building for the Christians; I will give a building for all students of the University.” The Students’ Union Building was the fulfillment of his promise.

No one threatened the integrity of McGill without experiencing Macdonald’s wrath first-hand. A syndicate of Montreal businessmen, some rumoured to be McGill governors, bought land on the southwest corner of the University grounds on which they planned to build a hotel. When this news reached Sir William, he threatened the men with exposure and financial ruin and demanded the land, gladly paying $500 more, while firmly stating that he would “not have McGill made the backyard of any hotel.” Two years later, he added 25 acres of prime Montreal property thereby extending the main campus to the north on which its gymnasium, stadium, and Douglas Hall were built.

Ontario experienced his openhandedness by way of the Macdonald Institute at Guelph. Established to improve rural education, it also helped Adelaide Hunter Hoodless of Hamilton, Ontario, founder of the first Women’s Institute, to provide better training of women in household sciences. Sir William, a confirmed bachelor albeit one who ardently believed in the ability of women, gave the school and residence, along with his encourage-ment. The Ontario government maintained the buildings and teaching staff.

Of all the gifts Sir William bestowed upon his countrymen, the greatest, given in 1907, was Macdonald College of McGill University at Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec. Primarily an agricultural college, it would also provide for household sciences and teachers’ training. The college reflected the broadminded characteristic of its founder, and benefited not only Canadians, but people worldwide. Like McGill, it continues to this day to maintain a solid international reputation.

Sir William did not confine to eastern Canada his efforts to establish a level of excel-lence in education. He also provided funding for the consolidation of Vancouver and Victoria colleges into the McGill University College of British Columbia, which evolved into the University of British Columbia. As well, he financially assisted the University of Alberta on the appointment of its first president.

When nominated President and Chancellor of McGill early in 1914, Sir William expressed his “earnest hope that no harm should ever come to the university in conse-quence of this election.” None ever did save for the vast void left upon his death in Montreal on June 9, 1917. His will included munificent bequests to the faculties of medi-cine and music, and travelling fellowships in the Faculty of Law that allowed English-speaking Quebec lawyers to study the French language in France.

The compassion of this shy, unpretentious, self-made tobacconist was measured by the willingness of others to help themselves. This was the spirit of his philanthropy that even today, through his enduring munificence, continues to serve his “clan” well.

Victoria Stewart