19122: Murdo Stewart Macdonald

Murdo, born c1850 in Croir went to sea and became a well known clipper captain.

He commanded the "Sir Lancelot" from 1882 to 1886 and he also skippered the famous tea-clipper "Assay". He married Elizabeth O’ Keefe and had four of a family.

Capt Macdonald was Lloyd’s agent at Mauritius and remained there after retirement.

The following extract appears on p. 440 of: Mauritius Illustrated: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial … Facts, Figures, & Resources, compiled by Allister Macmillan. London: Collingridge, 1914 (Reprinted: New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2000 ISBN 81-206-1508-5):

Macdonald, Captain Murdo Stewart
Born at Bernera, Island of Lewis, Scotland, in 1849, Captain Murdo Stewart Macdonald was at sea for twenty years and commanded from 1882 to 1887 the famous China tea-clipper "Sir Lancelot," of which we give an illustration and particulars on page 342. He came to Mauritius in 1887, and was appointed in 1890 Examiner for Masters’ and Mates’ Certificates. In 1892 he became Surveyor to the Vice-Admiralty Court, and in 1895 Surveyor to "Lloyd’s Register." He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Presbyterial Committee of the Church of Scotland, and Honorary Treasurer of the Mauritius Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society.