Kennedy Macdonald

Macdonald was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. He came to Wellington from Australia in July 1871.[1] Macdonald married Frances Rossiter on 15 November 1870 in Melbourne. They lost three sons within one month in 1876 during a scarlet fever epidemic.[1]

He was a founding member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in 1882.[2] Almost 100 years later, Inverlochy House, his former residence, was given to the academy.[3]

MacDonald initially made political impact in local government. He served for seven years as Government representative on the Wellington Harbour Board including 2 years as its chairman.[4] He was also a Wellington City Councillor from 1877 to 1878.[1] In 1899 he stood unsuccessfully for Mayor of Wellington against John Aitken.[5]

He represented the City of Wellington electorate from 1890 to 1891, when he resigned upon a bankruptcy claim.[6] He was in favour of a land tax and of more (rural) roads, and of ending the jobbery in dealing in native land.[7]

He contested the three-member City of Wellington electorate in the 1899 election, when he came fourth.[8] He considered standing in the Otaki by-election in January 1900, but the brother of the deceased incumbent consented to stand for the Liberal Party instead.[9] He was later appointed to the Legislative Council from 1903 to 1911.[6]

Macdonald died on 17 October 1914 at the Porirua Lunatic Asylum where he had resided since November 1913.[1] The Macdonald family is buried at Bolton Street Memorial Park, and their grave is part of the memorial trail.[10][11]

McDonald Crescent in Wellington is named after him.[12]

• Irvine-Smith, F. L. (1948). The Streets of My City. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed.