Douglas Scott McDONALD (1886-1953)
Biographical Details
Douglas Scott McDonald (1886-1953) was the brother of Mrs Jean McDonald Amos and Miss Maggie McDonald who were both teachers at Badsey Council School.
Douglas was born on 14th April 1886 at Farnborough, Warwickshire, the youngest of five children of John Henry McDonald and his wife, Margaret Ann Scott (née Currie). He was baptized at Farnborough Church on 24th June 1886. The family moved to Badsey in October 1894 when Mr McDonald became Headmaster of Badsey Board School as it was then called.
Douglas was educated at Farnborough and at Badsey. In May 1900, Douglas was employed as a Monitor for a short while at Badsey School and was a candidate for Pupil Teacher, but the Managers’ Minutes of July 1902 reveal that Douglas did not pursue this. One assumes that he had decided that teaching was not his vocation. By 1911 he was described as a bookstall clerk, although he was called upon to help out with teaching for a short time when his father was taken ill and his sister, Maggie, had to take charge of the school.
During the First World War, Douglas served with the Labour Corps of the Worcestershire Regiment. He arrived in France on 18th July 1915. Douglas was wounded on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme; he was firstly taken to a hospital in Hampshire and then to Abbey Manor Hospital, Evesham. He is mentioned in two letters written by Mela Brown Constable on 6th July 1916 and 24th August 1916.
Douglas married Alice Mary Probyn in 1923 in the Kings Norton district. They had two sons, John D (1926) and Arthur H (1927), born in Stourbridge. The McDonald family were living in Stourbridge in 1939.
Douglas and Alice moved to 1 Mostyn Villas, Chapel Street, Badsey in later life, possibly in 1950 to help care for his older sister, Elizabeth, who was left on her own following the death of their sister, Maggie, whose home it had been.
Douglas died in Evesham Hospital on 9th December 1953 and was buried at Badsey. His widow, Alice, died in the Evesham area, in 1976.
Letters mentioning this person: