Ronald McDonald
Ronald in his Sunday best to meet Sir Philip Game, Governor of New South Wales, 1934.
Ronald McDonald was born in 1862 in Fodderty in the Highlands of Scotland, the son of Alexander McDonald and Margaret McKenzie.
McDonalds Six Mile, located to the west of the current town of Lightning Ridge and the site of Charlie Nettleton’s first shaft is named for Ronald.
Ronald lived at the Six Mile in 1908 according to the surveyor’s diary. He had the first car on the field, a 1910 Maxwell.
Among his many claims to fame, McDonald was a good builder. He had the contract to build the school in the New Town in 1911, also the Bush Nurse Association (BNA) Cottage in December of 1915 with the help of Tom Urwin, completing the job by June of 1916.
“McDonald, Ronald: Was the only J.P. on the field at one time. Father had a store at Mungindi. He found the field bearing his name. Had first car on field, a 1910 Maxwell model. Kept first opal stone he found all his life (light opal). He and wife lived at 6 Mile.”
Ronald McDonald was married twice, first to Clara Jane Pratt with whom he had four children, Ronald, Archibald, Roderick and Allan. His second marriage to Elizabeth Jane Samuels bore two children, Flora Isabel and Jane.
“Mr. Ronald McDonald 80, who died at Walgett the other day, was a cousin of Sir Hector MacDonald of Dingwall Castle, Dingwall Scotland; and was a well-known figure throughout the west. He was married twice, by his first wife he had four sons, three of whom served in the Great War; and by his second wife, two daughters, one of whom, Flora Isabel (hostess and pianiste on the SS. Westralia) survives.”
Ronald McDonald died 7 Nov 1937, in Walgett and is buried at the Walgett Cemetery.
Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 44; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 54; Walgett Spectator, 20 February 1912, 11 November 1931; Lightning Ridge: Turning Back Time - A Heritage Trail, Barbara Moritz, 1998, pp. 5, 13, 20.