John MacDonald of Garth

John MacDonald of Garth
Born	1771 Garth, near Callander, Perthshire
Died	January 25, 1866 (aged 94–95) Williamstown, Glengarry County

John MacDonald of Garth (1771 – 25 January 1866) was a colourful character involved in the Canadian fur trade. He was an enthusiastic duellist and a shrewd businessman who became a partner in the North West Company and a member of the Beaver Club at Montreal. In an account of his exploits, he was described as having "indomitable courage... brave, reckless and domineering, with a decided tendency to seek redress with his own hands," characteristics that made him well-suited to his profession. Built in 1816, his home, Inverarden House, near Cornwall, Upper Canada, was later designated a National Historic Site of Canada. According to the 1997 book Lords of the North, by James McDonell and Robert Campbell, the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton, Alberta was named for him.

MacDonald was born in 1771 at Garth, his family's estate east of Loch Lomond, near Callander, Perthshire. He was the son of Captain John MacDonald of Garth, of the 8th King's Regiment, whose grandfather was a son of Alastair MacDonald, 10th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch. His mother, Magdalen Small, was the daughter of James Small, factor of the forfeited Struan estates in Perthshire. MacDonald's mother was a niece of Major-General John Small and Alexander Small, two of the first cousins of General John Robertson Reid, 15th Baron Reid. MacDonald himself was a brother of The Hon. Archibald Macdonald. One of his sisters, Helen, married their first cousin General Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet. His other sister, Magdalen, married The Hon. William McGillivray, of Chateau St. Antoine, Montreal.

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