Donaldson, Stuart Alexander (1854-1915), Anglican cleric and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge

• The Revd Stuart Alexander Donaldson, DD

Master of Magdalene College, 1904 - 1915.

Born in Sydney, Australia, son of Sir Stuart Donaldson, the first premier of New South Wales.

He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated in 1873). He graduated with first class honours in Classics in 1877.
From 1878 to 1904 he served as a master at Eton. He was ordained as deacon in 1884 and priest in 1885.

In 1904 he was appointed as the Master of Magdalene College.
He was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Divinity in 1905 and Doctor of Divinity in 1910. He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1912 to 1913.

Donaldson married Lady Albinia Frederica Hobart-Hampden, granddaughter of Augustus Edward Hobart-Hampden, the 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1900.

He suddenly became ill in the College Chapel on Sunday 24 October and died on 19 October 1915.

Arms in Hall glass, E3. Memorial brass in Chapel.

College Magazine
Obituary: College Magazine, vol. IV, No. 20, December 1915, pp. 1-5

For more information see A.S. Ramsey in Bygone Days at Magdalene:

'He was kindness and good nature personified. At the same time he was the typical 'hearty' school master'.
'He was ready to laugh at everything and laughed even when he missed the point of the story'.
'He came to his work with great zest and, though he called himself a conservative, he was at heart a reformer and very much 'out to change things'.
'It took ome time for him to realise the difference between school and College discipline'.
'As a host Donaldson was magnificent and his gift of ready speech on all occasions was a splendid sset'.
'The Pepys dinner was his idea' he said 'If we are going to make a splash we may as well make a big one'.
He was a strict abstainer from alcohol but there was always wine at the table for his guests.