John Macdonald (Kintyre, Berbice)

For family tree see John Macdonald on Ancestry (sibscription required)

In 1822 John Macdonald ‘late of Kintyre, Berbice’ died in Edinburgh, leaving a widow (Christian Cameron) and four legitimate children, Clarissa Margaret, Alexander, John and Duncan. He also had a ‘natural coloured daughter’, named Nancy Macdonald.

John had married Christian Cameron at Newton, near Doune, in Perthshire, in April 1809, at which point he was referred to as ‘John McDonald Esq of Berbice’ [Edinburgh Annual Register]

His daughter Clarissa became involved in a legal disute with the trustees of her father's estate, who had not invested her inheritance as instucted because they believed she was 'extravagent and improvident in her expenditure and that her habits were such as to render her incapable of managing her own affairs or being entrusted with the disposal of money'. In 1842, for example, she had run up debts of £200 to a draper in Perth. [Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Muir v Pollock, 9 Dec 1851]

In 1805 a ‘J Macdonald’ was a signatory of a letter to the Governor of Berbice and a list of planters, merchants etc, in the same year, includes J Macdonald, C Macdonald (per W Munro) and J & C Macdonald. [van Batenburg, Kort historisch]