James Donaldson was a Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 printer and newspaper publisher. He bequeathed a large part of his estate to the founding of Donaldson's Hospital

Donaldson's College

Donaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties.-Headteacher and management team:...

.

Early life

Donaldson was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1751. His father, Alexander Donaldson

Alexander Donaldson (bookseller)

Alexander Donaldson was a Scottish bookseller, publisher, and printer. Donaldson was the founding publisher of the weekly newspaper, the Edinburgh Advertiser...

 (1727-1794), was the founding publisher of the Edinburgh Advertiser, but was perhaps better known as a bookseller and litigant, most notably Donaldson v Beckett, during the era known as the Battle of the booksellers. His mother was Anna Marshall, a merchant's daughter. He had younger brothers, but all died young.

His paternal grandparents were James Donaldson (died 1754), a textile manufacturer, and Treasurer of Edinburgh; and Elizabeth Weir (died 1768). He had an uncle, John Donaldson, a London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 bookseller and partner of his father who was also an appellant in Donaldson v Beckett.

Career

At age 22, Donaldson became the second publisher of the Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 biweekly newspaper

Weekly newspaper

A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...

 the Edinburgh Advertiser

Edinburgh Advertiser

The Edinburgh Advertiser was a twice-weekly newspaper published in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Tuesday and Friday mornings for almost a century. At the time of its inception, it was the only newspaper published on these days of the week in Edinburgh. It ran from 3 January 1764 until 29 March 1859 when...

, the paper having been turned over to him by his father. His printing house was located at Castlehill. His apprentices and apprentice compositors included William Wilson, James Campbell, William Begg, Robert Miller, and James Thomson.In 1820, Donaldson sold the paper to Claud Muirhead, son of James Muirhead, the paper's principal manager and superintendent.

Donaldson was a member of the Edinburgh Bookseller's Society. In 1782, like his father, he became a Burgess and Guild Brother of Edinburgh.

Personal life

Donaldson married Jane Gillespie, eldest daughter of an Edinburgh physican, on 29 September 1792. They had no children.

He spent most of his life in Edinburgh. He owned two homes, one in town, the other in the country. The former was located on Princes Street

Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...

, now the site of New Club. The later, Broughton Hall, had been his father's home. He inherited £

Pound sign

The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

100,000 from his father, and doubled that through wise investing. Known for his benevolence, Donaldson gave money to beggers each week. He was also known for being an eccentric.

Donaldson died at Broughton Hall in1830. Shortly after his death, Broughton Hall's attached garden was converted into Zoological Gardens. He bequeathed £

Pound sign

The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

220,000 of his estate for the foundation of Donaldson's Hospital to maintain and educate poor children, with a preference for those named Donaldson or Marshall.