Samuel James Donaldson was a farmer, rancher, police officer and political figure in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada. He represented Prince Albert County and then Shellbrook

Shellbrook (electoral district)

Shellbrook was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, in the area of Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, west of Prince Albert....

 in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

The 25th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan was in power from 2003 until November 20, 2007. It was controlled by the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party under premier Lorne Calvert.-Members:-By-elections:...

 from 1905 to 1915 as a Provincial Rights

Provincial Rights Party

The Provincial Rights Party was a Canadian political party founded and led by Frederick W.A.G. Haultain in 1905 to contest elections in the new province of Saskatchewan.Haultain had been Premier of the North-West Territories prior to the province's creation...

-Conservative MLA

Member of the Legislative Assembly

A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

 and Prince Albert

Prince Albert (electoral district)

Prince Albert is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1908 to 1988, and since 1997.-Geography:...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1915 to 1917 as a Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

.

He was born in Appleton, Canada West, the son of Samuel Donaldson. After completing his education, he worked as a clerk in a furniture store in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. In 1876, joined the Royal North West Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 and travelled west to Pelly, Saskatchewan

Pelly, Saskatchewan

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. Donaldson was a member of the force from 1876 to 1882, serving in Battleford, Prince Albert

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...

 and Qu'Appelle

Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, is a small village and formerly in ecclesiastical terms a city, with considerable historic significance located on Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline, some east of the provincial capital of Regina.Qu'Appelle was for a time the terminus of the...

. He served as a captain in the Prince Albert Scouts during the North-West Rebellion

North-West Rebellion

The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...

. After he retired from the Mounted Police, he entered the livery business. In 1882, he married Jessie Paterson.

Donaldson served on the council for Prince Albert from 1889 to 1908 and was mayor from 1892 to 1894. He was elected to the House of Commons in an 1915 by-election held after James McKay

James McKay (Canadian politician)

James McKay was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Saskatchewan, Canada. He represented Prince Albert in the Canadian House of Commons from 1911 to 1914 as a Conservative....

 was named to the bench. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Donaldson was lieutenant-colonel for the 188th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force

Canadian Expeditionary Force

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...

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