BORN HULL 24/10/1894. BAPTISED AT ST CHARLES BORROMEO, CHURCH, HULL, ON 28/10/1894.
SON OF DANIEL McDONALD (1863-1931) & SARAH BERESFORD (1866-1941), AT 4, MASON STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). SON OF A DOCK LABOURER. HE CAME FROM A ROMAN CATHOLIC FAMILY OF EIGHT BROTHERS AND FIVE SISTERS. SEVERAL CHILDREN DIED IN INFANCY BUT HE HAD FOUR BROTHERS AND FOUR SISTERS (1911 CENSUS). A BRICKLAYER, BY TRADE.
JAMES McDONALD, LIKE HIS BROTHER, JOSEPH (1896-1918), WAS WELL KNOWN IN HULL BOXING CIRCLES AND WON THE FEATHERWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP OF HULL, AT BEVERLEY ROAD BATHS IN MARCH 1914.
JAMES McDONALD ENLISTED IN HULL. JOINED THE 1ST EAST RIDING FIELD ENGINEERS, AS A BRICKLAYER. HE DIED OF WOUNDS IN FRANCE, ON 23/05/1916, AGED 21.
HE IS RECORDED AS DIED OF WOUNDS, ON HULL’S NAPIER TERRACE, ROLL OF HONOUR (Hull Daily Mail 17 October 1916).
HIS BROTHER, SAPPER, JOSEPH CHARLES McDONALD, 98TH ROYAL ENGINEERS, DIED OF GAS WOUNDS, ON 25/10/1918, AGED 22, AND IS BURIED IN HULL.
BOTH BROTHER’S NAMES, ARE LISTED ON ST CHARLES BOREMEO, CHURCH MEMORIAL, JARRATT STREET, HULL
HIS BROTHER, DAVID MCDONALD (1899-1917) COMMITTED SUICIDE, AT BEVERLEY BECK IN 1917, AGED 17.
ANOTHER BROTHER, WILLIAM, LOST A LEG IN AN INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT IN 1917.
