William J. G. McDonald

Very Rev William James Gilmour McDonald DD (1924-2015) was a Scottish minister. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1989.^[1] He was popularly known as Bill McDonald and presented Radio Scotland;s “Thought for the Day” for many years under this name.

Life

Mayfield Salisbury Church

The grave of Very Rev Bill McDonald, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

He was born on 3 June 1924.

He was educated at Daniel Stewart’s School in western Edinburgh, and was school dux. He then studied Classics at Edinburgh University graduating MA before taking a second degree in Divinity. ^[2]

In the final years of the Second World War as a Captain in the Royal Artillery in India in an anti-tank regiment then returned to Scotland where after assisting in St Cuthberts Church in Edinburgh for some years he was ordained first into the church at Limekilns (which also included being Chaplain to Rosyth Dockyard. In 1959 he was translated to the prestigious Mayfield Salisbury Church in south Edinburgh succeeding Rev James Whyte. He remained there for the rest of his life. In Edinburgh he also served as Chaplain to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh. He received an honorary doctorate (DD) from Edinburgh University in 1987. He retired in 1992 but would still speak occasionally in his old church.^[3]

He died in Edinburgh on 9 December 2015 and is buried in Grange Cemetery near his home. The grave lies near the north-west corner of the modern western extension.

Family

In 1952 he married Patricia Watson.

He was father to the television presenter Sheena McDonald also to Roddy McDonald and Alison McDonald.

Publications

• Words Thought and Said (2014)

References